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No more 747's?


Butch

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BA retired G-CIVH recently, seems like all the carriers are intending and doing the same given the recent downturn.

Big shame, I know we all have opinions on Airlines, but the 747 has been my best ever flight and worst ever one as well, best ever was on Sultan of Oman's 747SP (numerous times actually) and the absolute worst was SAA 747 where the seats were crammed in and it was an experience I'm not keen to repeat.

I remember the EVA 747 Combi's, plus managed to get a biz class seat on one of them, upstairs. My first Thai flight was a 747 called "Phimara" HS-TGZ and although it was only 4 years old when I flew on it, hearing those GE's whine still brought a big smile to my face as I looked at Heathrow beneath us.

I think the Cargo companies will still use them, but the phasing out of the 747 fleets by many carriers prematurely is a sad thing.

Looking back I guess I felt the same way when Gulf Air ditched their Tristars, but you can't get in the way of progress.

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1 hour ago, Butch said:

BA retired G-CIVH recently, seems like all the carriers are intending and doing the same given the recent downturn.

Big shame, I know we all have opinions on Airlines, but the 747 has been my best ever flight and worst ever one as well, best ever was on Sultan of Oman's 747SP (numerous times actually) and the absolute worst was SAA 747 where the seats were crammed in and it was an experience I'm not keen to repeat.

I remember the EVA 747 Combi's, plus managed to get a biz class seat on one of them, upstairs. My first Thai flight was a 747 called "Phimara" HS-TGZ and although it was only 4 years old when I flew on it, hearing those GE's whine still brought a big smile to my face as I looked at Heathrow beneath us.

I think the Cargo companies will still use them, but the phasing out of the 747 fleets by many carriers prematurely is a sad thing.

Looking back I guess I felt the same way when Gulf Air ditched their Tristars, but you can't get in the way of progress.

What was the bulge on the back of Sooty's 747SP?

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32 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

What was the bulge on the back of Sooty's 747SP?

I think it was an early Satellite comms system, similar to Marisat. To be honest the passenger section wasn't really that plush, they were business class seats but no IFE, just a large cinema screen, but further forward was HM's area, totally off limits of course. He had 2 747Sp's, one was HM Qaboos' personal transport, and the other was for cargo / dignitaries / regular peasants like me.

normally the route was London to Switzerland to Muscat, I got to fly on both of them because the first SP (with the bulge, the other one didn't have it)  was in for D check at Cardiff once and I managed to grab a flight on it at short notice. In flight catering was bacon sandwiches and cheese and onion Walkers lol.

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39 minutes ago, monkey_omelette said:

I once flew to Thailand on a KLM 747. I got an exit seat and i fell alseep but woke up because my feet were cold, i looked down and there was a big block of ice down near the bottom of the door.

Yup, sometimes those doors aren't as leak proof as they should be, making it very cold there.

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Longest flight I did on 747 was CDG - Anchorage - Tokyo - Seoul with A.F. in the days flying over the URSS was a nono.

First leg was Bordeaux - CDG, and after Seoul a hop on a domestic flight to Pusan. Total over 24h travel.  Properly wrecked, even at 35 y old.

Never regretted the 747, but sure will regret the A380.

 

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2 hours ago, Butch said:

I think it was an early Satellite comms system, similar to Marisat. To be honest the passenger section wasn't really that plush, they were business class seats but no IFE, just a large cinema screen, but further forward was HM's area, totally off limits of course. He had 2 747Sp's, one was HM Qaboos' personal transport, and the other was for cargo / dignitaries / regular peasants like me.

normally the route was London to Switzerland to Muscat, I got to fly on both of them because the first SP (with the bulge, the other one didn't have it)  was in for D check at Cardiff once and I managed to grab a flight on it at short notice. In flight catering was bacon sandwiches and cheese and onion Walkers lol.

When I was there it was the hunchback & the VC-10,which is now at Brooklands Museum.

We used to operate one of our BAC 1-11's as VIP for high level military & MoD.The rum baba's we got from those flights were wonderful!

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36 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

When I was there it was the hunchback & the VC-10,which is now at Brooklands Museum.

We used to operate one of our BAC 1-11's as VIP for high level military & MoD.The rum baba's we got from those flights were wonderful!

That poor old VC10 is in pretty bad shape apparently. Shame really, I can always remember it coming into Seeb as our Villa was under the approach vector ,  I can remember it being so much noisier than anything else , even the GF Tristars. I also loved watching the Tristars coming in at night, they had flashing lights everywhere!.

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33 minutes ago, Butch said:

That poor old VC10 is in pretty bad shape apparently. Shame really, I can always remember it coming into Seeb as our Villa was under the approach vector ,  I can remember it being so much noisier than anything else , even the GF Tristars. I also loved watching the Tristars coming in at night, they had flashing lights everywhere!.

4 x RR Conways meant the only operators who could afford to run VC-10's were the Sultan of Oman & the poor British taxpayer.

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I don’t have the same travel experience as all you wealthy hedge fund managers, but my only time on 747 was in 2009 on JAL. Biggest plane I’ve flown, and could not believe the smoothness....30 seconds after taking off you feel like you’ve already levelled off and cruising. Funny thing, I was in upper deck economy from NRT BKK, with a row to myself. First Class on that plane was behind the pilots

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I think the service life of the 747's has been extended because of cheap oil. If the oil price goes up a lot, you will see that model slowly die. For an airline to be profitable, they have to fill seats. The Air Bus A380 was a massive gamble that appears to have failed especially now. Smaller more efficient planes are the flavor of the day and maybe also for the future. If a small plane is full, it is fairly simple to add another small plane. Huge planes do not have that versatility and they cannot afford to fly with half the seats empty.

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3 hours ago, Gary said:

[...]

If a small plane is full, it is fairly simple to add another small plane.

Unless an airport at either end (or both) is heavily congested. Replacing a smaller plane with a larger one in the same slot usually is much less of a problem than getting another slot for another small plane. And that was the gamble with the A380, high volume routes between congested airports.

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14 hours ago, Golfingboy said:

I don’t have the same travel experience as all you wealthy hedge fund managers, but my only time on 747 was in 2009 on JAL. Biggest plane I’ve flown, and could not believe the smoothness....30 seconds after taking off you feel like you’ve already levelled off and cruising. Funny thing, I was in upper deck economy from NRT BKK, with a row to myself. First Class on that plane was behind the pilots

I flew YVR-TPE premium economy with EVA on the 747 for years - once I was able to upgrade to business class which was in the upper deck at that time and it was wonderful - I sat in a rear row and was the first passenger off the whole plane when we landed. Then they reconfigured the interior and business class was in the front, with the top deck being made economy - couldn't figure this out as it is definitely nicer flying up there. A couple of years ago they changed  this route to the 777, and then as of February this year they are flying the 787 instead and have done away with premium economy, having room only for economy and business which is why I booked Cathay Pacific instead for my last trip, although I ended up going back to North America on Korean Airlines, thanks to Covid....I do miss the old 747...

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3 hours ago, maipenrai said:

I flew YVR-TPE premium economy with EVA on the 747 for years - once I was able to upgrade to business class which was in the upper deck at that time and it was wonderful - I sat in a rear row and was the first passenger off the whole plane when we landed. Then they reconfigured the interior and business class was in the front, with the top deck being made economy - couldn't figure this out as it is definitely nicer flying up there. A couple of years ago they changed  this route to the 777, and then as of February this year they are flying the 787 instead and have done away with premium economy, having room only for economy and business which is why I booked Cathay Pacific instead for my last trip, although I ended up going back to North America on Korean Airlines, thanks to Covid....I do miss the old 747...

EVA seems to have great reviews. Aeroplan gave me until October 31 to cancel my January booking, I made it the same week everything started going nuts in March.....who knew 10 months in advance wouldn’t be long enough to get the virus under control? Anyway, it was with Turkish Business Class, pair of 9 hour flights from Montreal, with only 4 hour break in IST. Breaks my heart to cancel, but I’m not doing a 14 day quarantine. Good chance when I finally go, it will be with EVA

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1 hour ago, Golfingboy said:

EVA seems to have great reviews. Aeroplan gave me until October 31 to cancel my January booking, I made it the same week everything started going nuts in March.....who knew 10 months in advance wouldn’t be long enough to get the virus under control? Anyway, it was with Turkish Business Class, pair of 9 hour flights from Montreal, with only 4 hour break in IST. Breaks my heart to cancel, but I’m not doing a 14 day quarantine. Good chance when I finally go, it will be with EVA

I loved flying with EVA and did so for 13 years, all in premium economy save for when I could upgrade to business - I tried to book again last year but couldn't get the return trip to work and when I finally phoned them to ask why I was told about the switch to 787's and no more premium economy from YVR. You can fly PE from Seattle as EVA are still using 777's on this route, but then that means another flight from YVR to Seattle, border crossing, etc....mind you, it's all academic at this point, who knows when we can start flying to SE Asia again? 

I found premium economy with EVA to be much better than the same with Cathay Pacific. 

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13 hours ago, maipenrai said:

I loved flying with EVA and did so for 13 years, all in premium economy save for when I could upgrade to business - I tried to book again last year but couldn't get the return trip to work and when I finally phoned them to ask why I was told about the switch to 787's and no more premium economy from YVR. You can fly PE from Seattle as EVA are still using 777's on this route, but then that means another flight from YVR to Seattle, border crossing, etc....mind you, it's all academic at this point, who knows when we can start flying to SE Asia again? 

I found premium economy with EVA to be much better than the same with Cathay Pacific. 

Shame they've dropped the PE option from the 787's, each time I've flown in PE on EVA, all but once it has been at capacity.

I didn't find much to choose between EVA and Cathay PE to be fair, I thought that with the new seats and no IFE box, the EVA product was slightly better, and the price point was also quite a bit better on the LHR-BKK as opposed to LHR-HKG with Cathay, EVA worked out around £230 per person cheaper return  ( although that was couple of years ago now). EVA really have a good product with PE, and some say it's the gateway drug into Business. Can't beat it on a long haul flight.

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13 hours ago, Shaksey said:

BA 747 Upper Deck, 64K, my favourite seat in the sky. Even over any of the 1st Class ones below. 1A/K a close second though.

 

I read somewhere that Cilla Black always insisted on seat 1A and threw a right strop if she didn't get it. Do you rate the current BA Business product Shaksey?, ever tried their PE at all?. Considering it as an option in the future (I'm considering a lot of things, although "clutching at straws" might be a better way to put it lol).

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25 minutes ago, Butch said:

I read somewhere that Cilla Black always insisted on seat 1A and threw a right strop if she didn't get it. Do you rate the current BA Business product Shaksey?, ever tried their PE at all?. Considering it as an option in the future (I'm considering a lot of things, although "clutching at straws" might be a better way to put it lol).

The new BA Club World is excellent. I liked the old Club World too but it's very aircraft and seat dependant.

The newer PE is  good step up from Eco, the old, original PE was shit.

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