Paris (AFP)

The legendary Boeing aircraft, the 747 saw its slow agony accelerate with the coronavirus pandemic to the point of pushing British Airways to announce the withdrawal of its fleet, after many others, just like the Airbus A380.

- Who announced a withdrawal?

The British Airways announcement Friday followed suit with that of Lufthansa in April, announcing in particular the retirement of five Boeing 747-400, seven A340-600, and six A380, on a fleet of 32 Boeing 747 (of all types) and 14 A380. The withdrawal was precipitated by "the environmental impact and the economic disadvantages of this type of device," said the group.

Air France, which had already decided to stop flying the A380 at the end of 2022 due in particular to its too high operating costs, accelerated the movement with the crisis due to the coronavirus and the slow announced recovery of traffic.

The Australian Qantas accelerated this month the withdrawal of its 747 announced last year, and made a farewell flight with the last three 747. The A380 must also be withdrawn, the company said.

Twelve 747 out of 23 Korean Air logos are currently in circulation, 11 freighters and only one carrying passengers, the company told AFP that it does not plan to withdraw. At Air India, four 747 are used to transport personalities or carry out evacuations, says a source within the company.

In December 2017, the Americans had already said goodbye to the Queen of Heaven: Delta Air Lines, the last airline operating the 747, had withdrawn it from its passenger transport fleet.

- Coronavirus, guilty or co-accused?

"The coronavirus is an accelerator," says Rémy Bonnery, aeronautical expert at Archery Consulting, while the pandemic grounded most planes in the world the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the 747, an aircraft of which 1,571 models were commissioned in its history.

The virus therefore came to press on an already yawning wound, according to him: whether the Boeing 747 or the Airbus A380, these planes "are much more difficult to manage within a fleet (...) They are not the easiest planes to fill, they have a higher level of consumption. "

Launched in 1970, the Boeing "Jumbo Jet" with the characteristic fuselage hump, can carry more than 600 passengers in certain configurations and the A380 up to 853.

"Already before the crisis, there was a movement towards smaller and more flexible planes", with lower costs and capable of making very different routes, encouraging companies to plan for early withdrawals, estimates Mr. Bonnery .

The A380 offers the best cost per seat on the market, provided it is 100% full, Sébastien Maire, aeronautical expert at Kea & Partners, told AFP recently. Which was far from obvious on many routes.

- Is this the end of the air giants?

"It is obvious that in the coming years we will not be going to very large aircraft", underlines Rémy Bonnery, adding that "the work of aircraft manufacturers will mainly focus on short haul and single-aisle capable of going long mail".

Emirates, the A380's largest customer with its 115 aircraft, has announced that it is continuing to operate the aircraft, which made its first flight just 15 years ago. But the president of the company Tim Clark considers that with the pandemic, an air giant like the A380 is ultimately "finished".

On the manufacturers side, Airbus announced in February 2019 that it would stop delivering 201 aircraft to 201 aircraft ordered by 14 customers, while Bloomberg said in early July that the latest 747-8, the latest version of the American Jumbo, which found above all lessee in cargo version, should leave the factory within two years, without confirmation from the aircraft manufacturer.

Despite its detractors, the legendary Boeing plane can still count on support, that of the President of the United States and his Air Force One.

Two 747-8, larger, more modern, faster and less greedy in kerosene than the current 747-200, 30 years old and which cost 180,000 dollars an hour, are expected by the White House.

© 2020 AFP