Thai Airways bids farewell to iconic Boeing 747 ‘Queen of the Skies’

[Bangkok Barry]

10 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Cheers. So I guess they only noticed their incompetence once it was pointed out to them. It just a full on amateur show from these clowns. I still think the best one yet was the pic of the Indonesean sub that was sadly lost with all hands when the article was about the Chinese sub purchase. 

 

A week or so ago we had a photo of a New York street, seemingly from decades ago, in an article about Thailand. And TAT has used a photo of a Philipine beach to promote Thailand.

[AjarnMartin]

13 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Thai Airways have also announced their have already sold all six of its A380 planes, that it purchased in 2004 and which the company put up for sale in August 2023. The original purchase price in 2004, ranged from 445 to 500 million US dollars each.

It was not declared who the buyers are and what selling price was achieved.

 

 

That’s very odd, George… The A380 wasn’t available until 2005 and the first one was sold to Singapore Airlines in 2007? Have you also got ChatGPT? 555

[SAFETY FIRST]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the airline also retired its six Airbus A380s.

This is sad news. 

 

Truely the best ever aircraft. 

 

I'd fly Emirates business class many times on the A380. 

 

The time really flew by drinking with some friends in the business lounge rear of the plane. 

 

[Georgealbert]

32 minutes ago, AjarnMartin said:

That’s very odd, George… The A380 wasn’t available until 2005 and the first one was sold to Singapore Airlines in 2007? Have you also got ChatGPT? 555

Sorry my post is correct, Thai Airways pre ordered the A380s in 2004.

 

The A380s were delivered between 2012 & 2013, after some delays.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20110927145118/http://events.airbus.com/A380/prevArticleDetail.aspx?artId=327&dispBack=0

[observer90210]

With all the alarming reports on the latest Boeings, I would dump the entire fleet of Boeings in service. The major global actors are switching to Airbus.

[Mr Meeseeks]

3 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The picture showing them sold, is from Thai Airways and the story is reported on aviation sites, this week.

 

https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/139499-thai-airways-says-its-a380s-are-sold

 

An auction was held on September 12, 2023, for the six that have been retired, four of them are stored at Suvarnabhumi Airport and the other two in U-Tapao Airport.

 

The aircraft with registrations HS-TUA, HS-TUB, HS-TUC, HUB-TUE, and HS-TUF were stored between the period of March and April 2020.

 

https://travelradar.aero/what-actually-occurred-with-the-a380-aircraft-of-thai-airways/#
 

Is there any link to the story of the court action preventing the sell? There was a rumour in 2022 that “the airline is closely examining the cost-effectiveness of recovering the aircraft, but has not yet made a decision”, but that never happened and it was the airline that posted news of the sell.

 

https://domesticflightsthailand.com/news/thai-airways-may-restore-shelved-airbus-a380s

 

I was only told the sale of the A380's was blocked by the courts. Wasn't told much more than that. 

 

Unfortunately no source that I can link to or post here, so take it with a pinch of salt. 

[Bangkok Barry]

On the subject of the 747, I found a shop stuffed with old magazines in a small backstreet in Stockholm. Most were old Playboys, but there were Life magazines too, and I bought one which had an advert from Boeing announcing the launch of the 747. Interesting to see how many ads there were too for cigarettes back then. How times change.

[scorecard]

6 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

Donald Trump might know 

 But only is you can catch him awake.

[retarius]

Great plane. Best in the business when I started flying long haul in the late 70s early 80s. You got off the flight feeling relaxed and headache free. The L1011 (? from some other company) was dreadful for causing headaches in me. 

[OneMoreFarang]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

retirement ceremony

What exactly is the meaning of retirement for these planes?

Put them somewhere and forget them?

Sell some parts and scrap the rest?

Sell the whole planes?

 

If other airlines are still using them and if they were properly maintained over the years, then I would think it should be possible to sell them. Or not?

[john donson]

they are doing so well economically, right, the last 10-20-30-40 years... 

[tuktuktuk]

10 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What exactly is the meaning of retirement for these planes?

Put them somewhere and forget them?

Sell some parts and scrap the rest?

Sell the whole planes?

 

If other airlines are still using them and if they were properly maintained over the years, then I would think it should be possible to sell them. Or not?

They're a favorite for cargo and don't have to meet the same certification requirements as for passenger service.

[digbeth]

2 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

 

I was only told the sale of the A380's was blocked by the courts. Wasn't told much more than that. 

 

Unfortunately no source that I can link to or post here, so take it with a pinch of salt. 

The concern was that whoever approved the sale would be burdened with causing a 'loss' and taken to court due to the price to get rid of them compared to what was paid for them

[Georgealbert]

13 minutes ago, retarius said:

Great plane. Best in the business when I started flying long haul in the late 70s early 80s. You got off the flight feeling relaxed and headache free. The L1011 (? from some other company) was dreadful for causing headaches in me. 

That would be the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, the last one left the factory in 1984, after which Lockheed withdrew from the commercial aircraft business due to its poor sales and losing out to the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, for airline business.

 

Only one TriStar is still flying, the Stargazer, built in 1974, modified in 1994 and used by Orbital Sciences (now part of Northrop Grumman) as a mother ship launch pad for the Pegasus launch vehicle.

 

https://avgeekery.com/stargazer-the-lone-tristar/

[Georgealbert]

2 hours ago, observer90210 said:

With all the alarming reports on the latest Boeings, I would dump the entire fleet of Boeings in service. The major global actors are switching to Airbus.

Have you a link to those who are switching to Airbus? Neither Airbus or Boeing will ever be able to supply the aviation needs alone.

 

Airlines are limited for choices, so the Boeing order book will continue to grow, here are links recent orders the American Airlines order and a 20 777X aircraft order from an undisclosed customer.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/09/business/boeing-orders-deliveries?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo

 

https://www.airdatanews.com/boeing-wins-order-for-20-777x-jets-from-undisclosed-customer/

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, tuktuktuk said:

They're a favorite for cargo and don't have to meet the same certification requirements as for passenger service.

Ok, so will they be sold to someone who wants to use them for cargo? 

If not, why not?

[nauseus]

22 hours ago, JoePai said:

So Asean Now thinks that photo is a Boeing 747-400   

 

It is a 400.

[Sydebolle]

Thai must have retired dozens of B747 all over Thailand; from Nong Khai via Korat, Bangkok etc. 

They also dumped the 6 Airbus 380; their fleet planning boggles the mind .......... 

[newnative]

Sad, especially the 380.  Wonderful plane.

[josephbloggs]

11 hours ago, nauseus said:

 

It is a 400.

It wasn't originally, they updated they picture after people pointed out how wrong they were.

[London Lowf]

3 hours ago, newnative said:

Sad, especially the 380.  Wonderful plane.

 

So true!

 

I've flown to Thailand three times in the last year with Emirates - cattle class. The LHR-DXB legs are on a 380 and DXB-HKT I have to suffer on a cramped, noisy, vibrating, rattling 777.

 

[Stargeezr]

These B747 will make great freighters, and fly for a lot more years. I loved flying on them, the seating even in economy

had lots of leg room, and the carry on fitted in overhear compartments just fine as well.

[GinBoy2]

TG business class 747 had that weird configuration of the galley parallel to the right window. 

I never booked any seat on the right side 

[nauseus]

10 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

It wasn't originally, they updated they picture after people pointed out how wrong they were.

 

Fair enough. Was it a Dakota?

[scorecard]

12 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

TG business class 747 had that weird configuration of the galley parallel to the right window. 

I never booked any seat on the right side 

Yes it was a strange configuration, could never understand why any airline would do that.

[Yellowtail]

First one delivered in January of 1970 and the last one in January 2023.

 

Almost 1,600 of them built and about 25% of them still in service. 

 

List of Boeing 747 operators - Wikipedia

[sabaiguy]

What a memory.  First flight on 747 54 years ago.  1970 first (or second) year it was in service,  Dozens since.  RIP

[AjarnMartin]

On 4/26/2024 at 8:14 AM, Georgealbert said:

Sorry my post is correct, Thai Airways pre ordered the A380s in 2004.

 

The A380s were delivered between 2012 & 2013, after some delays.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20110927145118/http://events.airbus.com/A380/prevArticleDetail.aspx?artId=327&dispBack=0

Hi George, I stand corrected based on TA's orders being in 2004. I love the A380 and loved the 747s. I'm trying to fly on Emirates A380 (A6EVS), the last one, if I can catch it on its LHR-DXB or DXB-LHR slot. 

[Gknrd]

And in other news, Boeing murdered two planes full of passengers because of greed. I am from the US and if I had my way they would be forced out of business. 

[Yellowtail]

33 minutes ago, Gknrd said:

And in other news, Boeing murdered two planes full of passengers because of greed. I am from the US and if I had my way they would be forced out of business. 

You must be a leftist.