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Since the beginning of the year British Airways has been introducing various heritage liveries to its fleet as part of its 100th Anniversary celebrations and the airline has just announced what its fourth and final heritage livery will be – we’re getting the Negus livery!
When BA announced that the Landor livery would be third heritage livery it would be releasing I ended the post which detailed the announcement with this paragraph:
It will be interesting to see what other liveries BA resurrects for its centenary year – I have my fingers crossed for the ‘Negus’ livery with the red tail fin (the first BA livery I think I remember) – but, whatever comes next, it will still be great to see a bit of history back in the sky.
Apparently wishes do come true!
A British Airways 747-400 (reg. G-CIVB) flew into Dublin last Saturday and is currently being repainted with the first version of the Negus livery used by the airline between 1974 and 1980 it will enter service at London Heathrow later this month.
This livery is actually the first livery to showcase the name “British Airways” since 1939 which was when the original British Airways Limited merged with Imperial Airways to form BOAC.
The Negus livery was introduced to the world following the merger of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and BEA (British European Airways) which together formed the British Airways we know today.
The Boeing 747 which will fly in the Negus livery will keep the color scheme through to its retirement in 2022 so there should be plenty of opportunity for those passing through Heathrow to catch a glimpse.
The Negus livery completes the heritage designs that British Airways is introducing this year so this is what the final line up looks like:
The BOAC livery used between 1964 and 1974 and now adorning a Boeing 747 (reg: G-BYGC):
The BEA livery used primarily on short-haul domestic routes between 1959 and 1968 and now adorning an Airbus A319 (reg. G-EUPJ)
The Landor livery used between 1984 and 1997 and now adorning a Boeing 747 (reg. G-BNLY):
And finally the Negus livery from 1974 – 1980 which will soon adorn a Boeing 747 (reg. G-CIVB):
Bottom Line
I’m a little more excited than I probably should be at the fact that I’m going to get to see the first British Airways livery I remember brought back to life….and on a 747 as well.
I’m not really an AvGeek at all but this has made me very happy and I’m going to have to make sure I’m over in the UK pretty soon to try to get a look at this 747 when it goes into service – it’s going to look fantastic!
Featured image: British Airways 747-200 in Negus livery courtesy of Wiki Commons Media
