End of an era

Qantas retires the 747 ‘Classic’

Tuesday January 20 saw the end of an era in Australian commercial aviation with the departure from Australia of Qantas’s last ‘Classic’ 747-300.

Qantas personnel who had worked on or with the Classic gathered along the fence line next to Sydney Airport’s old control tower beach along with a group of enthusiasts and spotters to farewell 747-338 VH-EBV City of Geraldton when it departed at 7:45pm for Honolulu. The aircraft then continued on to the desert ‘boneyard’ at Pinal Airpark at Marana near Tucson in Arizona to join its sisters, VH-EBY City of Mildura, and VH-EBW City of Tamworth in storage, and VH-EBX City of Wodonga which was sold late last year to Pinal-based Evergreen International.