travelling allrite

In some very sad news, Qantas today announced that it will retire the last of its Boeing 747 aircraft by the end of 2020  and replace them with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Now I like the 787. My flights with them have mostly been smooth, the electronically shaded window mean that I can always see out and it's a fine looking aircraft to boot. But it's no 747, the aircraft that brought intercontinental travel to the masses. There is something intangible about the 747 that evokes the glamour of flying, real or imagined. The size, the curves, that unique profile. Seated in the 747 I always felt like I was setting off on a long adventure. In a more modern jet it's just A to B. My first flight on a 747 was on my very first international trip, with Singapore Airlines. I've also flown on them with Malaysia Airlines, British Airways, KLM and Cathay Pacific. But it is with Qantas that I hold my most precious memories of flying all the way to London via Bangkok on our h...

It had to be Brighton. Almost nineteen years ago, less than two months after those aircraft crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, we set out on our first flight on a Qantas Boeing 747, the Queen of the Skies. It was not our first flight on a 747, that came a few years earlier on my very first overseas trip, but it was my first on a Qantas jumbo. What made it extra special was that we were flying away on our honeymoon. After our wedding night at the Novotel Brighton Le Sands we sat by the beach and watched the aircraft fly across Botany Bay to and from Sydney Airport until it was our turn to leave. Our flight to London lasted over twenty-four hours, longer than normal due to a four hour delay in the aircraft at our transit stop at Bangkok's old Don Mueang Airport. Yet it seemed to pass so quickly and I felt sad to leave my seat when we finally arrived at Heathrow, so good was the experience on the Qantas 747. So when it came time to choose a location to view this final flight of...

Isolating ourselves from the scourge of COVID-19, borders closed between states and other countries, even a simple drive of a few kilometres can become a noteworthy journey. What drew me out of the house was another casualty of the pandemic. The Boeing 747 has played a huge role in the history of Qantas, spanning a period of forty-eight years. This year marks the airline's centenary, but sadly there is little to celebrate now. By the end of tomorrow they will have no more international flights until restrictions are lifted, most of their workforce stood down. Today likely marked the final scheduled passenger flight of the 747 for Qantas, QF28 in bound from Santiago, Chile. They had already announced that the Queen of the Skies was to be retired this year , but no doubt had planned a greater celebration of its most famous aircraft. Instead, any celebrations must have been muted, with passengers whisked away to hotels for a mandatory two weeks of isolation. But I could...

As I journeyed home on Thursday afternoon I watched the 747's fly off into the west. I wanted to be one those planes as they rose into the golden light of the approaching dusk. It now appears increasingly likely that we shall have to cancel our trip to Europe later in the year. We should know in a week. Though lately I have been wracked by the urge to travel, not helped by numerous Jetstar sales to Japan, I admit to not being entirely disappointed by the potential need to cancel. The fact is that I want to travel on a 747 again, not the 777's and the A330's of Korean Air. There is something unique about these ships of the sky. Something that the smaller jets and the even the larger A380 lack that just speaks overseas adventures. Maybe it's the exclusive and hidden area towards the nose where the first class passengers are housed, the similarly hidden area upstairs for the business passengers. As an economy passenger I never have a chance to explore these mysteries. If o...

With the coming of daylight saving time the last of the flights overhead is the Qantas 747 to Japan. I will often be outside, taking the dog out to do his final ablutions for the night, when I hear the soft roar of a four distant jet engines cruising north into the dark night sky, lights blinking, distinguishing it from the stars. And I wish that I was up there with them, looking down upon the city lights. I know that flight, just as I know its destination. Nine years ago we caught QF21, then a 747-300 on the first of eleven trips (so far) to Japan. Since then other flights have taken us there. I recall arriving so early that first time, utterly exhausted from a sleepless night in the air, unable to check into the hotel. Far better, is it not, to land in the evening, with time for dinner and rest? Yet... Three years ago I had a love-hate relationship with flying. I enjoyed the views from above, loved the travel, but was terrified of turbulence. It wasn't until three Qantas 747 fl...