A passenger jet that was rechristened "City of Swansea" in 2019 has been saved from an uncertain future.
In 2019, the Boeing 747, registered as G-BNLY, was painted in the iconic Landor livery reminiscent of the company's fleet of the 1980s and 90s for the British Airways centenary celebrations.
Many see the red, white and blue livery as the classic "British Airways look" and when the aircraft was painted with the historic design it was also renamed City of Swansea - the name it carried when it joined the fleet in 1993.
City of Swansea is one of only two Boeing 747s left to retire from the British Airways fleet, and is due to depart for its final flight from the airline's engineering base in Cardiff later this month.
British Airways announced it was grounding its remaining 747 passenger jets in July, 2020, with the last 31 "Queens of the Sky" decommissioned with immediate effect.
Get stories like this straight to your inbox with our newsletters.
It was previously reported that the aircraft would carry the Landor livery until being retired in 2023.
G-BNLY City of Swansea, which has been the subject of an online campaign to save it, has been spared the scrap heap, however, and will make its final flight to become a permanent exhibit at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey later in December.
It has also been announced that another 747 aircraft currently being kept at Cardiff Airport will find a new home as well.
Painted in the Gold Speedbird livery used by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (which merged with three other airlines to become British Airways) in the 1960s and 70s, G-BYGC will make the short hop to Bro Tathan Business Park in the Vale of Glamorgan where it will be maintained as a heritage piece by aviation specialists, eCube Solutions.
Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, said: "While we will miss seeing them grace our skies, we are delighted to have found permanent homes for our remaining centenary 747 aircraft.
"We think they have great historical importance, not only to British Airways but to the entire aviation industry, and we are pleased they will be preserved for future generations in locations in the UK.
"As the final 747s to leave our fleet, their departure will be an emotional moment for former and current British Airways staff, including our engineering team in Cardiff who have lovingly looked after our jumbo jets for decades."
