A British Airways Boeing 727? Impossible. Everyone knows the UK airline operated locally manufactured equipment. They had a fleet of Hawker Siddeley Tridents instead of the popular American trijet.
Where do all these pictures of the Boeing 727 in British Airways’ livery come from? They certainly were not operating in Europe, so where would you find them?
The South Africa Connection
In South Africa, there is an airline called Comair, which operates as a British Airways franchisee. They serve routes out of Johannesburg and Cape Town to places such as Mauritius, Harare, Victoria Falls, Livingstone, Windhoek, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth.
-
- The elegant British Airways Landor livery suits the Boeing 727 very well.
All the aircraft operated for BA are in the full livery and for all intents and purposes it’s just like flying BA but in Africa. Today they operate Boeing 737s, but in the past it was the 727, hence the pictures.
British Airways Boeing 727 Take-Off
There is video of a British Airways Boeing 727 online, which is worth seeing. The aircraft is rotated into the take-off attitude and takes a fair while to get into the air.
It’s interesting to see the plane in action. Considering it is in the Landor livery and there is a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 in the video, it will be from the 1990s.
Overall Thoughts
While these 727s never operated in Europe, it would have been a common sight in southern Africa. I can only imagine the astonishment among frequent flyers had any of them suddenly appeared at Heathrow operating European services.
From what I hear, Comair do a very good job on behalf of BA, with service pretty much mirroring the UK airline. You can also earn the usual Avios and tier points in the Executive Club when flying them. I really need to get down to South Africa sometime!
Did you ever fly on board a BA 727 in Africa? Did you even know Comair exists? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image by Perry Hoppe on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
Landor also by Perry Hoppe on Airlines.net via Wikimedia Commons.
Miss the 27. I believe it to be the most beautiful aircraft ever built. No, never flew the BA 27s. But, have flown my fair share of the Northeast Yellowbirds and Delta (thanks to the merger with Northeast) versions. I miss flying on them.
A fantastic aircraft, I agree! I managed to get on one twice, both with Ansett in Australia. Nice and quiet up front, remarkably so. They certainly were popular! I’d love to fly on one again myself. Thanks for the comment!
Oh I know of this. BA well served in South Africa. Comair provides a good connection service to BA. The 727s were well placed!
Certainly good to see them in BA colours anyway!