Featured Map for 30 March 2020:
Antipodal 747 Finales

Sunday 30 March marked the final 747 "Queen of the Skies" operations for long-time 747 operators on nearly opposite sides of the world: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Qantas Airways. Although these retirements had been planned the crash of airline business due to the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process.

Time zones meant KLM's KL 686 from México City was last, landing at Amsterdam at 3:29 pm local time. This flight was operated by PH-BFT, a 747-406 Combi. KLM's passenger fleet had five of these aircraft plus two all-passenger versions. Another three 747-406F freighters remain in the fleet, operated by Martinair Holland.

Qantas had retired their standard 747-400 fleet last November but still had a fleet of six 747-438ER aircraft. That fleet's last revenue flight was flown by VH-OEE, operating QF 28 from Santiago, which landed at Sydney at 5:30 pm local time.

Today's Featured Map shows the last routes flown by these fleets over the past fortnight; wide paths highlight the final flights. Videos of the final arrivals are included in the reference links below.

References and additional information:

• KLM and Qantas have retired all their 747s because of the coronavirus – The Points Guy (29 March 2020)
• KLM, Qantas Reportedly Flying Final 747 Flights This Weekend – AirlineGeeks (27 March 2020)
• KLM 686:
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
  • KLM 686 – FlightAware
  • KLM 747 Final Landing In Amsterdam – YouTube
• Qantas 28:
  • Qantas Airways
  • Qantas 28 – FlightAware
  • Qantas 747 Final Retirement Flight Landing In Sydney – YouTube
• Planespotters
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Fleet Details and History
  • Qantas Fleet Details and History
  
  
• COVID-19 information:
  • Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic – World Health Organization
  • COVID-19 situation