A classic 747 British Airways jet has undergone a dramatic transformation into a “party plane” which will be available for revellers to hire.
The BA Negus jet has been remodelled into an events space to host everything from private birthday parties to product launches and corporate events, and is now sitting pretty at the privately-owned Cotswolds Airport near Wiltshire.
It was bought for just £1 in 2020 by the airport's chief executive Suzannah Harvey when British Airways retired its fleet early due to the pandemic, and has been a labor of love ever since.
Suzannah 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 into a bar.
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 described the renovation process as 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,” she said.
"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 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.
