Virgin Atlantic 's last Boeing 747 has officially left the airline's fleet. The jumbo jet named Pretty Woman (registration G-VROY) took off from London Heathrow on Monday.
The aircraft was the final jumbo jet to leave the fleet, and has been flying for Virgin since June 18 2001, including over 2,600 trips to Orlando in Florida.
Aviation fans were able to watch the historic milestone online with Big Jet TV, including the pilots' preparations and route-plotting, the final checks of the aircraft and the moment when the plane finally took off.
No passengers were onboard the flight, but a few weeks before the plane's departure, the airline did open the plane up to the public for a special dining experience and tour. The event was ticketed due to social distancing restrictions - and tickets sold out within minutes of bookings opening.
It marks the end of an era for the Boeing 747, dubbed the 'Queen of Skies', with both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways having retired the planes early due to the impact of the pandemic.
In fact, when Virgin Atlantic shared a photo of the aircraft in tribute to its final journey, British Airways' social media representative commented with a sweet message: "Good luck today @Virgin Atlantic as you say goodbye to your Pretty Woman, who looks as lovely as can be. A fond farewell from all of us at British Airways.. we will miss seeing jumbo jets at Heathrow."
Virgin Atlantic had already previously revealed plans to retire all seven of its Boeing 747-400 aircraft, with an original plan to complete this in 2021. However, the impact of Covid-19 on the airline industry meant that the airline chose to retire the jumbo jets with immediate effect earlier this year.
British Airways has made a similar move, retiring its 'fuel-hungry' Boeing 747s earlier than planned.
There were 31 Boeing 747 planes in the British Airways fleet, all of which flew their last commercial services over the summer. At one point, the airline had been operating 57 of the aircraft.
The last of its 747s left the fleet earlier this year, although there are plans for one of the planes to be opened to the public by next spring, while another aircraft is set to be transformed into an exhibition.
