So Sad | 1974-1975

Airline - British Atlantic Airways
Aircraft - Airbus A300B4-100 | G-AFBA
Built for British Atlantic Airways, 1974
(Not Taken Up)
Delivered to Royal Airways, 1975
Sold to Atlantic Charter, 1993
Stored at Mojave Air & Space Port, 1998
Scrapped at Mojave Air & Space Port, 2010
Livery - Standard 1957
Country - Great Britain

G-AFBA was the second A300B4 built, and was almost complete at the time of the triple merger which created Royal Airways. She was one of five A300s ordered (with six options) by British Atlantic Airways, and while a second one was partially complete when the merger happened, the first - Brigantine Anne - was the only one to be painted in the BAA livery. She was also the only A300 that was outfitted with BAA's interior. This included an onboard lounge and 102 First Class seats in a six-abreast configuration. In accordance with the carrier's super-premium business model, the widebody aircraft were intended to operate flights to New York, Boston, and other destinations in the northeast.

The rest of the Airbuses (ten in total, as the newly-formed Royal Airways exercised the option) were painted into the Royal Airways livery and configured with a normal layout upon delivery, however G-AFBA was operated for a period of fourteen months in the BAA livery and seating configuration. It was flown on a daily London-New York route, advertised as a replacement for the 'twice as fast with twice the class' service which has been flown by a Convair CV880 until two years prior. However, this only lasted just over a year, at which point the aircraft was refitted with a new interior, standardized with the rest of the A300 fleet. The titles on the fuselage were also replaced at this point, but the whole BAA livery lasted another five years, finally disappearing in 1981.