We were privileged to be able to properly have a sentimental up-close-and-personal farewell to the iconic Boeing 747-400 wide body commercial airliner from the Air New Zealand fleet on Saturday.
Gosh, I remember when I first flew on a jumbo jet and just walking down the aisle was an amazing experience. I was so small, and it was so big! 3-4-3 seat configuration - mindblowingly wide.
I've also been very fortunate to have travelled upstairs in the iconic "hump". I've got one specific memory when I was on one of my business trips to India and being stuck on the tarmac because of a delay. One of the cabin crew had the decency to open up the bar, and I knew for a fact that they did not do that downstairs. We were very grateful, and not phased at all by the delay :-)
It was neat to be be able to sit here, right at the front of the plane.
Then when we were at the back of the plane we discovered an area that was quite a surprise - the cabin crew resting quarters. For some reason I thought about the mile high club when we were here.
We were able to explore the aircraft at our leisure, and it was good to be able to do so, since we would probably never have the opportunity again.
We were taken on the tarmac via bus that was escorted by a security van. I would have preferred to walk the 500 meters, but I guess it would be too difficult to control.
We had waited a fair bit prior to boarding the bus out here, but it was great that AirNZ treated us like customers and provided snacks and beverages identical to those in flight.
Thanks, Air NZ - and farewell to the grand Boeing 747. It's the end of an era.
