Air India began a new phase after being acquired by the Tata Group. The country’s most traditional airline gained a new brand identity and ordered hundreds of aircraft to compete for customers with large carriers in the Middle East.
But an old part of the company insisted on not disappearing, four Boeing 747-400s that were parked at Mumbai Airport.
The aircraft had been removed from service in 2020 and 2021 and since then their fate was unknown.
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On Monday, however, the 747-400 VT-EVA finally took off from India towards Boeing Paine Field in the United States.
Today, we wave goodbye to the first of our last ‘Queen of the Skies’, the B747, departing Mumbai.
Thank you for an era of majestic flights. We’ll miss your iconic presence.
Credits – @CSMIA_Official#AirIndia #b747 #QueenOfTheSkies pic.twitter.com/W3M15eo5Nx
— Air India (@airindia) April 22, 2024
The transfer flight was provided by Nomadic Aviation Group, a company specialized in this task, and which will deliver the 747-400, with the future registration N940AS, to AerSale, its new owner, who will convert it to transport cargo.
The “Jumbo” said goodbye to India still displaying the old Air India livery, but without its inscription on the fuselage.
Airbus A350 is the company’s new flagship plane
Of the three remaining 747-400s, one of them will fly again, the VT-EVB, which is expected to be transformed into a freighter. The other two are no longer capable of flying and will have to be cannibalized.
In its history, Air India has had 31 Boeing 747s between -200, -300 and -400 models. Considered uneconomical, the four-engine engines were replaced by twin-engine 777s and 787s.
Currently, the airline is introducing Airbus A350s into its fleet.
