From time to time I post something historical and today I have a little gem which is quite interesting. Usually I like to source something from deep in the British Pathé online archives but not this time. This time we are visiting Ireland in the 1980s on the occasion of the final Aer Lingus Boeing 707 flight.
Celebrating The Final Boeing 707 Flight
Ireland’s Aer Lingus operated the Boeing 707 from 1964 through to 1986, using the aircraft on its North Atlantic services. To commemorate the aircraft’s retirement the airline put on flights around the country for enthusiasts to enjoy.
There are some great things in the video such as cabin shots, cockpit shots, and they had a camera man in the jump seat filming the aircraft landing. It was also interesting to learn the aircraft was previously a movie star, having been the star of the 1970 movie “Airport”.
The aircraft flew from Dublin, over Shannon and landed in Knock. From there, it did a round the county flight for new passengers from Knock, then took the original people back to Dublin. It sounds like a wonderful day!
It’s so interesting comparing the outside shots of Dublin Airport to how it looks now, plus it’s great to see a Boeing 707 in action. Most airlines had withdrawn their old 707s by the late 1970s or early 1980s so Aer Lingus are unusual having one in service this late.
Overall Thoughts
Historical videos are always good fun to watch, not just for the differences in fashion compared to now! Seeing old airline liveries, uniforms and the way things are reported makes the whole package really interesting to me. Keep an eye out for my next one which could well be something much longer than this.
Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Michel Gilliand and both images via Wikimedia Commons.
I believe this aircraft was EI-APG. As a young engineer I worked on it during its production at Boeing, Renton, WA, where its line number was 7504. I met 7504 again when I returned home to work for Aer Lingus. I believe it was s sold to Sudan Airways, painted in their colours in Dublin and sadly, it crashed into the Nile on its delivery flight to Khartoum.
Great to hear that you worked at Boeing at that time and remember it. Sounds like an interesting career all round if you worked both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks for sharing that! Really interesting to ready comments from people who were there at the time.