Pictures. Once upon a time… Boeing 747 at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport

The last copy of the legendary Boeing 747 has just left the factory in Seattle, USA. We’re back with pictures and anecdotes from his many visits to Nice-Côte d’Azur airport.

It took off on Wednesday 1st^er After half a century of production at the Everett factory near Seattle, USA, for the last time in February. It is, rather, the Boeing 747, always called the Queen of the Skies.

In honor of this 1,574th and final delivery, the aircraft (registration N863GT) took to the skies its 747 name.

Which was not captured by the spies of heaven.

At Nice Cote d’Azur airport, this aircraft is most often not available, as there are not many long-distance international routes. However, he left us some beautiful images Since 1970.

First, let’s recall the extraordinary dimensions of this Jumbo Jet. It weighs 315 tons, can carry 400 people and 178 tons of fuel. We know her well because of her beauty a blow to the head. It is 70 meters long, 64 meters wide, and has 4 reactors.

Its single wing weighs 30 times that of the first airplane produced by Boeing, the Model C.

Its construction required 6 million parts and more than 274 km of cables. Count 18 wheels and 3 million rivets and you get a plane that can fly 15,000 km, a real revolution for its first flight in 1969.

Therefore, in Nice:

It was on April 19, 1970 that the first Boeing 747 lowered its wheels to perform tests on the landing gear.

Since then, the aircraft operated by Air France and many other companies have not stopped coming to flap their wings in the sun.

In August 1991, a friendly protocol was drawn up between a motorist and an Air France 747 after stones damaged the car.

This anecdote even led to a friendly exchange between the driver and the airline:

In April 1986, the serial number was 2 as Panam Boeing 747 (Immat: N747PA) 1 was known to be a prototype for testing.

Prestigious planes also landed on the Nice tarmac.

On the occasion of the G20 in Cannes, Air Force One, the presidential Boeing 747, landed at Nice airport at 7:42 a.m. on November 3, 2011, after a flight of just over seven hours from Washington.

There, he will meet with the 747th presidency of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The same Chinese 747 will return in 2019 for the visit of the new President Xi-Jinping. Another version of the 747 escorts the president’s plane to deliver his personal belongings, including a bed stored at Negresco.

The airport also welcomes private B747s. Especially not able to surprise with its size, including the Emir of Qatar, who stopped for several days near Terminal 1. side of small business jets.

It was the emir of Bahrain who landed in Nice on October 15, 2022. The King has two private jets.

Thanks to the 747 and Air France, Nice was connected directly to Rio, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, but that was a long time ago.

Spotters (photographers interested in aviation around airports) will no longer see 747s landing in Nice. exceptional way. No company operates regular passenger flights from Nice.

This is not the case with the Airbus A380, which was announced to return in June 2023.