Another Philippine Airlines Boeing 747-400 has flown off into the sunset as RP-C7475 recently made its way to Clark International Airport to join other aircraft being retired from the fleet. Philippine Airlines is currently in the process of closing a deal to sell up to sixteen of its ageing aircraft including the last four remaining Boeing 747-400 aircraft in the fleet.
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| Copyright Photo: Robert "Bob" Reyes/PPSG |
RP-C7475 was towed from Lufthansa Technik Philippines at Ninoy Aquino International Airport before taxiing to Runway 24 where it departed Manila for the last time under the Philippine Airlines flag. PAL first took delivery of RP-C7475 in 1996. The Boeing 747-400M Combi was originally ordered by Kuwait Airways in the early 1990's. However, the airline never took up the order and Philippines Airlines accepted delivery of the aircraft instead registering it as N754PR.
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| Copyright Photo: Robert "Bob" Reyes/PPSG |
As a Combi variant of the Boeing 747-400, the aircraft featured a side cargo door at the rear port side of the aircraft. However, Philippine Airlines opted to never use the cargo door and operated the aircraft instead in a full passenger configuration. At the time it was originally delivered, it was the only 747 in the Philippine Airlines fleet to be equipped with personal entertainment screens throughout the entire aircraft. It also featured a distinct cabin layout from the other 747-400 aircraft in the PAL fleet.
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| Copyright Photo: Aaron Willis/Jetphotos.net |
The original seating configuration of the aircraft was 32 seats in First Class, 40 seats in Business Class, and 326 seats in Economy Class. In 2008, the aircraft was retrofitted with the new Philippine Airlines cabin design featuring Recaro angled lie-flat seats in Business Class and Recaro seats in Economy class. Each seat was equipped with a Thales i5000 personal entertainment system complete with audio-video on demand capability. The aircraft was re-registered as RP-C7475 and reconfigured with 56 seats in Business Class and 335 seats in Economy Class.
In its final years with Philippine Airlines, the aircraft was frequently used on flights between Manila and San Francisco.
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| Copyright Photo: Robert "Bob" Reyes/PPSG |
-With files from PapaLimaSierra
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