British Airways announced that due to the sharp drop in travel demand sparked by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, the company will retire all of its Boeing 747 aircraft effective immediately. The four-engined jumbo jets are less efficient than modern twin-engined aircraft, and cost much more to fly and maintain. Spokespeople of British Airways state that they originally planned on retiring the aircraft in 2024, and it is unlikely the company will ever commercially fly the Boeing 747 in the future.

A total of 31 aircraft accounting for about 10% of British Airways' fleet will be retired, and flight routes will instead be serviced by more modern aircraft such as airbus A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The British Overseas Airways Corporation (COAC), the predecessor of British airways, operated its first Boeing 747 flight in 1971. As of now, the fates of the aircraft are still unknown.

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