British Airways
BA took 94 Boeing 747s and was the world's largest 747-400 operator. It retired the type in July 2020, four years early.
British Airways took 94 Boeing 747s, the second-highest total of any airline after Japan Airlines, and was the largest operator of the 747-400 in the world.
The Club World upper deck
BA configured the upper deck as Club World, its business cabin, and it acquired a following out of all proportion to its size — roughly twenty seats with their own galley, their own crew and a staircase separating them from the rest of the aircraft.
For a certain kind of frequent flyer, the BA 747 upper deck was the reason to choose the flight. The seat maps are here.
The retirement
BA had planned to fly the 747 until around 2024. COVID-19 ended that in July 2020, when the airline announced the type would be retired with immediate effect.
The final two Heathrow aircraft departed on 8 October 2020:
- G-CIVB, painted in the retro Negus livery
- G-CIVY, in standard Chatham Dockyard colours
A synchronised departure from parallel runways was planned. It rained, and they went separately — which is either a disappointment or entirely appropriate, depending on your view of British ceremony.
What replaced it
777s and 787s, and later A350s — the same substitution every operator made. Four engines could not justify themselves once twins could fly the same routes.
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Airlines that flew the 747
Every major Boeing 747 operator — the launch customer, the biggest fleets ever flown, who still flies the 747 in 2026, and when the rest said goodbye.
Pan American World Airways
The airline that ordered the 747 into existence, flew the first service in 1970, took 65 aircraft, and was gone by 1991.
Japan Airlines
The largest 747 operator in history at 108 aircraft, and the airline Boeing built three special high-density variants for.
Singapore Airlines
93 Boeing 747s, the Megatop 747-400s, and a retirement in 2012 in favour of the 777 and A380.
Lufthansa
81 Boeing 747s, the launch customer for the 747-8 Intercontinental, and the last major airline still flying the type.
Korean Air
79 Boeing 747s, the last passenger 747-8 ever delivered, and a safety transformation that followed two 747 accidents.