Forever young

OJA’s new beginning

For those who witnessed the final moments of flight for QANTAS’s Boeing 747-400 VH-OJA, few will forget the sight. The massive yet graceful ‘City of Canberra’ concluded its long career by approaching the shortest runway it had ever landed on after the shortest flight it had ever flown. People had packed the airfield perimeter and traffic was literally stopped on the roads. And then, when the wheels had touched down and the crowds had finally dispersed, OJA was at rest at its new home. At rest, but not retired.

Preserve or Perish?

When an airliner nears the end of its operational life, there are various options in retirement. It can be cannabilised for parts, parked in one of the remote, dry desert storage facilities or in some cases broken up altogether. None of these fates seemed particularly appropriate for an aircraft with such a significant heritage and a world record under its belt. For OJA, the numbers certainly stack up. During its 26 years in service it transported more than 4 million passengers over 85 million kilometres – or 110 return trips to the moon.