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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Tom Bevan & Julie Delahaye

Iconic British Airways jet transformed into huge bar for epic parties in the UK

A former British Airways jet has been transformed into a huge bar and events space - and you can already hire it for parties.

The Boeing 747 aircraft was bought for just £1 in 2020, and has become the first in the world to be transformed into a bar to host lavish plane parties.

British Airways retired its 747 fleet back in 2020; the jets were already being phased out due to being 'fuel-hungry' but the impact of the Covid pandemic saw this move accelerated.

The BA Negus 'party plane' is now in situ at the privately owned Cotswolds Airport, and has been remodelled into an events space that can host everything from private birthday parties to product launches and corporate events.

The aircraft is being preserved at the site near Cirencester after British Airways retired its fleet early because of the travel downturn caused by the pandemic.

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It has since been a labour of love for the airport's chief executive Suzannah Harvey.

She said: "I paid a pound for her, and we have a certain obligation to maintain it as is practical for public use.

"The company has had to spend nearly £500,000 getting her prepped and ready here, but I think it's money well spent and it preserves her for future generations."

Most of the original structure has stayed the same but the transformation has included stripping out the economy section to create the events space and turning the gallery has been changed into a bar.

You can hire the event for parties - complete with a huge bar (@negus747 / SWNS)

A full rewiring with custom lighting has been done while it also took one man a whole week and a half to give it a good clean inside and out.

Suzannah added: "It's been a long old slog. She came into us in October 2020, and at the time I rather naively thought we'd have her up and running by the following Easter.

"We've had such tremendous support from everybody. All the contractors, all the people that have volunteered who are current BA 747 engineers - and here we are finally. She's ready and she's good to go."

The Boeing 747 will be open for parties and you can also take tours of the aircraft (@negus747 / SWNS)

The Negus entered the British Airways fleet on 15 February 1994, operating 13,398 flights - flying for 118,445 hours over nearly 60 million miles. Its last passenger flight was from Miami to Heathrow on 6 April, 2020.

Anyone now wanting to host a party onboard will have to pay more than £1,000 an hour but Suzannah said they had been inundated with enquiries - including from Netflix.

Suzannah added: "The vision has finally come to fruition, with overwhelming support from volunteers including current BA engineers and half a million pounds of investment later, Negus 747 is finally ready.

"Preserved for many years to come and future generations, Negus is the only bespoke events 747 in the world."

Cotswold Airport is family owned and operated and is the largest privately owned airport in Europe having a runway only 2m shorter than Bristol International.

Suzannah said an app will soon be launched to enable the general public to book tours of the aircraft.

It's not the first time a retired plane has been given a new lease of life. Back in 2018 a former Airbus 320 was transformed into a restaurant where guests dine in the cabin, and need a 'boarding pass' to visit despite the plane not actually flying anywhere.

Meanwhile in 2020 when flights were grounded due to Covid travel restrictions, Singapore Airlines opted for a similar scheme and turned one of their A380 aircraft into a pop-up dining experience.

Oh, and aviation fans won't want to miss out on a stay in a plane-turned-hostel complete with an on-site bar and even a bedroom in the former cockpit.

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