Another 747 for the Books: British Airways Unveils Its 'Landor' Retro-Themed Jumbo Jet

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British Airways is going all-out with the celebration of its 100th anniversary through airplanes painted in its former colors. On Saturday, the world's biggest operator of the Boeing 747 unveiled its second Jumbo Jet in so-called "retro colors," this one painted in the airline's official livery from 1984 to 1997. Known as Landor, from the name of the design studio that produced it, the livery flew with BA before the introduction of the current scheme, known as Chatham Dockyard.

TPG UK's Director of Content Nicky Kelvin was behind the scenes at the Dublin airport, where the 747 was painted, for the livery's unveiling on Saturday, before the first flight in new (or old...) colors from Dublin to London Heathrow.

The 747 with registration G-BNLY, a 26-year old bird, will then recommence regular operations by operating from Heathrow to Miami later on Saturday. The aircraft will wear the Landor livery until it is retired in 2023. British Airways has 35 Boeing 747s in the fleet, and will retire them by 2024. They are set to be replaced by the Airbus A350-1000 and the Boeing 777-9.

This third special livery follows the recent arrivals of a Boeing 747 painted in British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) livery and an Airbus A319 in BEA colors, each one representing one of the two airlines that merged in 1974 to form British Airways.

British Airways did not plan a Heathrow arrival event for this third (out of four) special-colors jet, like it did for the BOAC and BEA livery arrivals, partly because of its weekend arrival, but also for another reason that should make British Airways passengers and fans excited. British Airways is set to unveil the new Club World (BA's name for business class) seat for the new A350 earlier than expected, within the next few weeks, so it didn't want to overshadow the long-awaited, highly anticipated new business-class product. The 747s are going to keep the outdated business-class product they currently fly — a product that, while dated, can still hold its own on transatlantic hops when in the hands of a particularly good cabin crew.

(Featured image by Nicky Kelvin / The Points Guy)