Tuesday, February 11, 2014

ANA announes final Boeing 747 farewell tour.

All Nippon Airways (NH/ANA) will carry out 'Farewell Boeing 747 America Tour', as the last part of their 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo' series of events commemorating the retirement of the passenger Jumbo Jet from ANA, and from Japan.
Boeing 747-481/D JA8961 comes in to land at Okinawa's Naha Airport. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

The tour will take five days, and will start on April 16th taking participants to Tupelo (TUP/KTUP), to see the airline's ultimate Jumbo Jet, B747-481/D JA8961, make its final landing at the airport in Mississippi, U.S.A. the following day on April 17th. Participants will be invited to take photographs aboard the aircraft upon arrival, sign names and messages on the jetliner, and even help to start dismantling the airliner. ANA's B747-400Ds are being sold to aircraft-recycling firm Universal Asset Management. On April 18th, the group will be escorted to a Boeing 747 farewell party that will take place in Memphis. Participants will leave the following day and arrive back in Japan on April 20th. Prices start at 838,000 JPY for business class, 558,00 JPY for premium economy, and 348,000 for economy. The tickets are being sold by ANA Sales.

Just a few days before the departure of JA8961 from Japan, ANA is also planning 'ANA Maintenance Center & Training Center Tour' on April 13th, to provide enthusiasts one last photo opportunity of their B747 in one of their hangars at Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND/RJTT). Prices start from 14,800 JPY, and ANA will also sell packages that include round-trip domestic flights for those wishing to participate from areas other than the capital. Participants of 'Farewell Boeing 747 America Tour' will be entitled to priority application.
An image on ANA's 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo!' website. (Image: ANA)

Simply amazing how much effort they are putting in to bid farewell to the 'Queen of the Skies'! Flying in the jetliner to each and every city the type had regular services to in the past, carrying out First Sunrise flights with the jet, bringing in the airplane to tri/quad-jet-banned Osaka's Itami Airport (ITM/RJOO), flying farewell and sightseeing flights, providing flying opportunities for children in the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami-affected areas... and now they've come up with a tour to visit an aircraft boneyard to see the jetliner arrive, and even help start to scrap it. I have never seen an airline take a retirement of an aircraft this far!

Source: All Nippon Airways, February 6th. (in Japanese)

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