Last year, on 26 July, Newcastle Airport celebrated its 75th anniversary by getting carriers to operate different aircraft types. Emirates laid on a 777 and KLM used their 737 in retro livery. My son and I flew in on BA 744 G-CIVI on scheduled flight BA1326 from LHR. Flight time was 45 minutes.
On leaving LHR, an announcement was made at the gate that the flight would be on a 747 instead of the usual Airbus 319/320 - much to the surprise of most travellers. On board, several of the crew were of Geordie origin. Interestingly, pillows and blankets were provided (for a mid-morning departure!). The take-off run was short. The flight was certainly not full, but there was a decent A320-sized load of pax on board, plus a few extras like us who'd bought tickets especially for the 747 ride.
On arrival, the OneWorld-liveried aircraft parked up and the disembarking passengers were greeted by waiting airport dignitaries. (I learnt later that they weren't waiting for us, but to greet the Duke of Gloucester.)
That was definitely my shortest 747 flight, coming as it did a day after a LHR-CDG trip on an Air France A380 (which had been regularly scheduled throughout the summer on that route).