Bangkok--17 Mar--thanaburin
Qantas’ first Boeing 747-400, celebrated for having flown the longest commercial flight in history from London to Sydney, made its shortest and final journey today from Sydney to Illawarra Regional Airport in New South Wales.
After less than 15 minutes in flight, Qantas’ B747 (VH-OJA) touched down at 7:47am and was delivered to its new home with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) where it will become the only B747-400 in the world to be put on public display.
Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said donating the aircraft to the HARS museum will provide not only a great tourist attraction, but also an opportunity to preserve an important piece of Qantas’ and aviation history
“Having graced the pages of the record books, revolutionised air travel for Australians, marked a huge technical feat for Qantas and carried millions of passengers on their global adventures and home again, our B747-400 “City of Canberra” is very deserving of a graceful retirement as the star attraction at one of Australia’s most prestigious aviation museums,” said Mr Joyce.
“As she takes her rightful place in aviation’s hall of fame at HARS we’ll be reminded of her lasting legacy as a great aviation pioneer, a legacy that continues to inspire and drive Qantas’ spirit of innovation and world class airmanship and engineering today.”
The delivery flight from Sydney International Airport to Illawarra Regional Airport was the first time a Boeing 747 has landed at the regional port. The Qantas pilots operating the final flight worked with industry stakeholders on a number of approvals and training procedures given the flight was outside normal Qantas operations to a non-Qantas port. A number of considerations were factored in to the preparations including ensuring the appropriate ground handling equipment were positioned at Illawarra Regional Airport for the arrival and giving the aircraft livery a “Permaguard” coating to protect the paintwork for many years to come.
The aircraft interior was also given a full “spruce up” with the only items removed from the aircraft being the Qantas Flight Operations manuals in the cockpit, the galley carts that store in-flight meals and the fresh flowers in the lavatory. Three of OJA’s Rolls Royce engines still have significant life left in them and will be used on other Qantas B747s. One engine will be left on OJA, with Qantas and HARS working on sourcing suitable replacements over time.
Over the past few years, Qantas has been gradually retiring its older B747s. Nine of its newest jumbos, the last of which was delivered in 2003, have been refurbished and will continue flying into the future. Since 2008, the Qantas Group has taken delivery of almost 150 new aircraft, lowering its fleet age to an average of just over seven years.
The aircraft will join an impressive lineup of famed aircraft located at HARS including a Lockheed Super Constellation, Catalina, Douglas DC3 and DC4 and a Desert Storm US Army Cobra.
Qantas Boeing 747-400 “VH-OJA” facts
25.3 years in service
13,833 flights
106,154 flight hours
4,094,568 passengers carried
This aircraft has flown nearly 85 million kilometres, which is equivalent to 110.2 return trips to the moon
“VH-OJA” was Qantas’ first Boeing 747-400 aircraft and was named the City of Canberra
It was delivered to Qantas on 11 August 1989 and made its debut flight on 16 August 1989 from London to Sydney
On Thursday 17 August 1989, it set the record for having flown the longest non-stop flight (London-Sydney) of any commercial airline (flight number QF7441)
The flight and subsequent media attention around the world at the time underlined Qantas’ role as the leader in long-range commercial aviation.
All of Qantas’ B747-400 aircraft were named ‘Longreach’ as a tribute to our place of origin and to demonstrate the long-range of the aircraft.