Skip to content

Get hitched on an iconic British Airways Negus 747 aircraft

Feb. 05, 2022
3 min read
BA Negus 747 party plane Cotswolds (image courtesy of Suzannah Harvey
Get hitched on an iconic British Airways Negus 747 aircraft
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don’t cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.

Forget the mile-high club… romance has literally taken a front seat on this Negus 747. Now you can get married in its cockpit.

The retired British Airways plane has been converted into a wedding venue and party plane among other things, thanks to a more than half a million-dollar makeover.

Suzannah Harvey, chief executive of the privately-owned Cotswold Airport, in Gloucestershire, bought the craft from BA for £1 (around $1.30) back in October 2020.

Suzannah Harvey, chief executive of the privately-owned Cotswold Airport bought the 747 from BA for £1 in October 2020.(Image courtesy of Suzannah Harvey)

She then spent the next 14 months kitting it out with disco lights, a dance floor, a bar, a giant TV screen and everything else you'd expect from a more than $1,000-per-hour entertainment space.

Related: 16 airline liveries that will catch any AvGeek's eye

(Photo courtesy of Suzannah Harvey)

Related: My 11 craziest AvGeek experiences

"It's a very versatile events facility, so it can accommodate anything from a kid's birthday party, through to a new product launch or a corporate presentation," Harvey told CNN

To get married aboard the plane will set you back about $16,000 (£12,000) for 24 hours, including set up and breakdown times. "The whole of the aircraft has a wedding license," says Harvey. "So you can get married in the cockpit if you want."

The £1,000 per hour space includes its own dancefloor (image courtesy of Suzannah Harvey)

Harvey got the idea after a number of retired 747s arrived at her airport to be stripped for parts by Air Salvage International — one of the U.K.'s leading "aircraft undertakers" that happens to be based at Cotswolds Airport.

Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

She took the idea to BA and, after six weeks of fine-print negotiations, persuaded the company to part with the former flagship.

The deal rested on her promise to keep the plane in good condition, while keeping most of its original structure, including its iconic Negus livery.

This particular plane had, after all, been with BA since 1994. In 16 years, it has flown nearly 60 million miles across 13,398 flights. Its last passenger flight was from Miami to Heathrow in April 2020.

It will cost around £12,000 to get married aboard the grounded plane.(image courtesy of Suzannah Harvey)

Related: AvGeek-in-training: How to tell Boeing 747s apart

BA's plan to phase out its fleet of Negus 747s, which enjoyed their heyday through the 1990s, was expedited by the COVID-19 downturn.

Known as "Queen of the Skies" and popular among AvGeeks, the "fuel-hungry" Boeing jet has fallen out of favor of late as airlines switch to smaller and more efficient passenger planes.

Harvey says interest has gone through the roof, and bookings already include a wedding this spring, the filming of a Netflix documentary and numerous parties for the summer.

On top of events, Cotswold Airport will be opening up for tours from March, which visitors will be able to book through a soon-to-launched app. Booking inquiries can also be made via Instagram.

Featured image by (Image courtesy of Suzannah Harvey)
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.