Airlines are slowly retiring the gas-guzzling queen of the skies, the Boeing 747 (the pretty ones are always the thirstiest, eh?).
As an aviation geek it’s tough to not get at least a little bit sentimental about it. Many of us grew up flying the 747 and associate many of our first longhaul journeys with the plane, so seeing them slowly scrapped and dumped in the desert is like losing an old friend.
The only good thing about 747 retirement is that we seem to get a cool “farewell” video from each airline whenever it happens.
Most recently, EVA Air has posted a 747-400 farewell video on YouTube:
Well, the theatrics sure are, ahem, memorable, from the flower handoff, to the horribly choreographed human-sized animals. But you still can’t help but get at least a bit emotional when you see it.
Really, any new 747 retirement video is a chance to go back and watch the Singapore Airlines 747 retirement video again, which must have been the most emotional ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho1YNM6z9hE?t=4m15s
Ugh!
Lucky did Singapore Airlines converted all their B747's to cargo planes?
@ Jim -- They certainly retired all of them, though I think they just parked some of them in the desert.
I'll miss the EVA air 747 combi. I flew on this bird TPE-MNL a few times. From what I recall, business class is upper deck and a premium economy seat (sold the same price as economy) was in the lower deck near the nose. I'll miss her.
@clippergoodwill5280 and W: Shh, don't let something as mundane as facts get in the way of a post.
@Lumpy
Thank you for explaining the animals!
(the pretty ones are always the thirstiest, eh?)... As NayNay would say... The thirst is real ;)
EVA still has three 744 all passenger jets. It seems like all three will be gone in 2016 after more 77W delivered.
The video states farewell 747-400 Combi, not 747.
Besides, I coincidentally just looked up the price for a CGK-TPE flight in July, certain days still have 744s listed, though on others its listed on 77W. So it means there are still some 747s left, its just that this case is the cargo/passenger combination version.
Let me add a little explanation to the Human Animals, as to why they were there. This was explained in the video in Mandarin.
This particular plane was used on a number of special transport missions for very special cargo. The trips include treasures from the Louvre, Japanese Cranes, Koalas from Australia, and a pair of Pandas from Mainland China to Taiwan. The Animals were there to remind everyone the history of the plane.
@ Lumpy -- Awesome, thanks for the explanation!
Admit you're a little sad that Hello Kitty didn't make an appearance.