British Airways Goes Retro Again With Landor Livery on a Boeing 747
British Airways is bringing retro to the skies — again. On Friday, the carrier announced that on the heel of its BOAC 747 retro livery announcement, which was enough to make any AvGeek swoon, it's painting another of its super jumbos in its iconic Landor livery.
The Boeing 747 will take to the skies this month, sporting the Landor livery, which BA flew between 1984 and 1997. British Airways will paint the 747 registered as G-BNLY in the Landor livery in honor of the airline's 100-year anniversary.
According to PlaneSpotters.net, G-BNLY is 26.1 years old, having been delivered to the carrier in February 1993. The aircraft flew to Dublin earlier this week to begin its transformation and will be renamed "City of Swansea." It will return to its London Heathrow (LHR) home later this month before it begins flying to "long-haul destinations served by the Boeing 747."
G-BNLY will remain in its Landor livery until it's retired in 2023. BA is undergoing a retirement plan for the remaining 35 747s in its fleet, which will be phased out through the next few years. At that point, they'll be replaced by the newer and more fuel efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Airbus A350s and its newly ordered Boeing 777-9 aircraft.
In February, British Airways unveiled its first retro livery in honor of its 100-year anniversary, featuring the carrier's iconic British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) livery on one of its Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
In addition to the two 747 retro liveries, British Airways is also transforming one of its Airbus A319 aircraft to feature the British European Airways (BEA) livery. That aircraft is already in the process of being painted in Dublin.
The three retro liveries are one part of an anticipated big year for British Airways. Later this year, the airline is expected to unveil its brand new Club World seat, which will be outfitted on its soon-to-be-delivered Airbus A350 aircraft.
Stay tuned for more coverage, as TPG will be at London Heathrow to welcome in the next retro livery.