British Airways bid farewell to its three remaining Boeing 757s on Saturday, October 30, with a special farewell tour around the UK. To commemorate the day, the airline repainted one of the aircraft, G-CPET, in vintage BA livery from 1983. That airplane visited Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh during its final day in British Airways service from London Heathrow. The other two 757s flew from Heathrow on Spanish services.

British Airways served as the launch customer for the 757 in 1983 and by the late 1990s flew 54 of the jets. The last three of its 757s entered service in 1997.

With the retirement of its last 757s, a mix of Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s, along with a small number of Boeing 767s, now serve BA’s short-haul network.

“Almost everyone in the operational side of the business has either piloted, repaired, dispatched or looked after customers on Boeing 757s during the past 27 years,” said Stephen Riley, director of flight operations. “Back in 1983, the Boeing 757 was at the cutting edge of aviation technology, enhancing our capability to land in thick fog. This allowed British Airways to fly when rival carriers would be grounded.

“Now we are welcoming the Boeing 777-300ERs to the fleet, which are setting their own new standards in customer comfort and environmental performance.”

British Airways has so far received two Boeing 777-300ERs from an order for six. The airline plans to take delivery of 12 Airbus A380s starting in 2013 and 24 Boeing 787s from 2012.