BA sold 4 777's and brought 3 747's out of storage?

[what's it doing now?]

I've heard that BA have sold 4 777's and are bringing 3 747-400's out of storage. Does anyone know how true this is, or any more about it?

[411A]

Shoring up the bottom line in troubled times, perhaps?

[Notso Fantastic]

Strange.....no 747-400s in storage at all, and the 777s are leased as far as I know! There may be a grain of truth there somewhere.....maybe not worth relying on too much!. .PS-Why does this get an instant uninformed opinion from the sage of the airline world- 411A?

[ 12 February 2002: Message edited by: Notso Fantastic ]</p>

[Diesel]

There are (or should that be were) 3 747-400s stood down. They were not in storage as such but were not in use. I can't say whether or not they have in fact been bought back into service but it is true to say that the leases on the 777s are very saleable at the moment while the 747-400s are not...

[Rogan Josh]

There were at least 3 747's outside the BA hanger at Cardiff the other day that looked they were "resting"....perhaps they were not 400's though......

[Lucifer]

Aren't there 2 -400s with Qantas right now - cannot confirm this though. The 777s were certainly being looked at being sold, since as Diesel rightly says they are the most marketable asset, though I have heard nothing more.

[FlyboyUK]

The 747's sitting at Cardiff are the Classics that have been taken out of service....6 still there this morning. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[Porky Speedpig]

One 744 with QF and coming back soon. G-BNLH

[Barnstormer]

Dunno about the -400s but 2 777's to be sent back. They are some of the original zulu series which are the light weight variant!

[Anti-ice]

2 767's that were in storage, bought back into service this week for some overstretched shorthaul services <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Hopefully things starting to turn around for the better - despite some dire expectations in tommorow's (13th) long awaited announcement <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

[wryly smiling]

3 -400's and 2 777 will be stored at CWL with the classics for a unspecified period

[gas path]

2 off 777s to go, ZZD and ZZE. They are to be returned to Boeing. (FWIW I believe these returns were part of the original lease). Part of that original lease was that B.A. had to attempt to find a buyer first. As for the -400s upto 8 were to be disposed of.

[Kato747]

I would have thought BA would have ALL their 744's on line for the Hadj leases!?!

[Hand Solo]

Probably not the best time to offer BAs services to 10 million muslim pilgrims/martyrs! Better send the ones with the reinforced doors!

[jongar]

proberbly better to sent the classics - they wont be missed

[Captain Airclues]

BA owns/leases 57 747-400s. The one aircraft which has been on lease to QANTAS was due to return in March, but will not now do so, and will be staying with QANTAS at least for the summer. Three aircraft were planned to be mothballed in March but this will no longer happen. These aircraft will go to either Cardiff or Cambridge to complete their 'Dusk' modifications, which will be in the 'low J' configuration.. .The reason is not so much the resale values as the high forward M class bookings for the summer.

Airclues

[411A]

Well then Notso....looks like you are NOT so well informed if the above are anywhere near correct.. .And as for BA aeroplanes on the Hajj....

[Notso Fantastic]

Don't talk such nonsense Man! Everybody has a different garbled story! I can tell you positively that one 400 with Qantas will not be coming back anytime soon, no other 400s are in storage, 2 x 777 are being returned and 5 'L/H aircraft' will be disposed of if new owners can be found. Not exactly "Stop Press!!! Shock horror in the Airline World!" is it? Time enough for long term disposal plans to change. So shall we let this daft thread go to the great electronic graveyard?

[Mode7]

There are no 744s in storage, and one with QF which is stating there. The 'grounded' ones are on extended maintainance to get the fleet standardised.

[Gaza]

QF have a BA 744 on long term lease while their 744 fleet is modified with Personal IFE. According to yesterdays press release BA are selling 2 x 777 this summer.

[quote]Two Boeing 777 aircraft are being sold and will exit the British Airways fleet in Spring 2002. The company will seek to sell a further five aircraft from its long haul Boeing fleet. <hr></blockquote>

What is interesting to note is VS announced yesterday that they are increasing flights across the pond.

[quote]NORTH AMERICA. .From 30 July until 27 August 2002 Virgin Atlantic will add an additional Tuesday service from Gatwick to Las Vegas making a total of 3 services per week to this key leisure city.

From 4 June 2002 a Tuesday service will resume from Heathrow to Newark and from 24 July on Wednesdays until early September. This means that VAA will operate a total of 28 flights per week to New York during this period. . .<hr></blockquote>

Seems to suggest that demand, even transatlantic, is picking up.

[411A]

...yes, and VS, having lower fixed costs, will profit quite nicely.

[newswatcher]

Gaza,

I guess it depends what you mean by "additional". The Tuesday Las Vegas flight has been re-instated, after it was withdrawn last October, post 11/9.

[Notso Fantastic]

&lt;...yes, and VS, having lower fixed costs, will profit quite nicely. &gt;....That will be a great relief to Mr. Branson that the 'instant opinion maker, great sage of all things to do with aviation (after Guvnor)' has given his endorsement to Virgin's re-instatement of a Vegas service!

[Captain Gidday]

Quite correct Airclues and others. The new IFE fitouts are having their troubles and NLH will be staying in Oz for a while yet. Out here it is registered VH-NLH and is universally known as Never Leaves the Hangar. Pity it didn't keep its G-B reg. as it would have allowed the addition of some typical Aussie epithets to that.. .It was doing a daily SYD-HKG rotation for some time but due to less than universal customer acceptance of its tired old interior it has been relegated to the 'second division' and now does a double daily Cairns-Sydney-Cairns. There's no competition on that route at the moment, post Ansett, so that 'faded 80s BR' look doesn't matter much up in (the) Queensland.

[Porky Speedpig]

Gidday - how are the ex BA B767-300s doing then?. .Any better than NLH?

[Captain Gidday]

Not universally liked.