*****Tickets for the pop-up dining experience are now sold out. Business Traveller will be attending the event and a report will appear on this site in due course.*****
Virgin Atlantic has unveiled farewell plans for its recently retired B747 fleet, with customers able to buy tickets for a pop-up dining experience on one of the carrier’s jumbos.
The event will take place on the ground within Virgin’s hangar at Heathrow on December 12, with tickets going on sale on December 7, priced at £50 (all proceeds going to The Trussell Trust).
During the three-hour experience customers will get a full aircraft tour, alongside a three-course meal served in Upper Class, and Virgin Atlantic pilots, cabin crew and engineers will be present “to provide first-hand accounts and anecdotes on what life was like on-board the famous jumbo jet”.
The event will include champagne on the aircraft’s upper deck or “bubble”, a chance to see the jumbo’s crew sleeping quarters, the underbelly, cargo hold and cockpit, and a photo taken in one of the B747’s engines as a memento of the day.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions “only a limited number of tickets” will be available to purchase on a first come first serve basis at virg.in/747experience, from 0900 on Monday December 7.
Following the event, Virgin’s B747 registration G-VROY is expected to make its final departure from London Heathrow on December 16.
Commenting on the news Corneel Koster, chief customer and operating Officer at Virgin Atlantic, said:
“The much-loved Boeing 747 has played an important role in Virgin Atlantic’s story. It carried our first passengers to New York 36 years ago on our inaugural flight and over the years has transported countless millions of holiday-makers and business travellers safely around the world.
“As we close this chapter and continue the transformation towards a cleaner, greener fleet, what better tribute than to showcase the Queen of the Skies one last time. I’m delighted we’re able to offer this opportunity to a lucky few to be part of aviation history, before we say our fond farewells to this iconic plane.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has led several airlines to accelerate the retirement of their B747 fleets – British Airways recently bid farewell to its remaining jumbos, four of which have found new lives as exhibition pieces, film sets and a “business, conferencing and private hire venue”.
