British Airways will paint several aircraft with retro-livery, including a 747 in BOAC livery

Oneworld alliance member British Airways today confirmed a number of rumors posted on social media that they will paint a number of aircraft in retro-liveries.

The first aircraft to be painted will be a Boeing 747-400 registrered G-BYGC that will be painted in a BOAC livery, a popular design from British Airways past.

The first 747 that will adopt the retro-livery of BOAC it’s scheduled to arrive back on Heathrow on 18 February from the paint-shop in Dublin and enter directly into service the next day.

This coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first Boeing 747, flight that took of on 9 February 1969.

Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, said: “So many British Airways customers and colleagues have fond memories of our previous liveries, regularly sharing their photos from across the globe, so it’s incredibly exciting to be re-introducing this classic BOAC design.

The 747 has been deliberately chosen for the BOAC livery as it is a later variant of the same aircraft type that adorned the design when it was initially in operation.

The BOAC livery will remain on the Boeing 747 until it retires in 2023. By this time, British Airways will have retired the majority of its 747 fleet, replacing them with new state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft.

This includes taking delivery of 18 A350s and 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in the next four years – which feature new cabins and are more environmentally efficient – as well as another 26 short-haul aircraft, all part of the airline’s £6.5bn investment for customers.

Further new designs will be released in the following weeks, however, new aircraft that are due to enter BA’s fleet will continue to receive the today’s Chatham Dockyard livery.