G-VIIA
On February 14, 2016, this British Airways Boeing 777-200er landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Mississauga, Ontario. The wide body with the registration number G-VIIA was inbound from London, England’s Heathrow Airport. Click any of the images for a larger size version (if you zoom the first image, you can clearly see the pilots, right down to the Chef Graham Elliot style white-framed glasses).
This Boeing 777, that first flew on April 10, 1996, is quite the world traveler. For example, in the past week, along with London and Toronto, it has been to Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudia Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.
The British Airways long haul workhorse is configured with 14 first class, 48 business class, 40 premium economy and 122 economy seats.
Not without its faults, since 2013, this Boeing 777-236er has been grounded four times. In May, 2013, it spent three days in Chicago, Illinois due to technical issues. In December, 2014, it was again technical issues that kept her grounded in Denver, Colorado for three days. In September, 2015, she was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany on a London to Delhi, India flight due to fumes on board.
Most recently, in October, 2015, again on a flight to Delhi, India, the Boeing 777 was down for repairs. On approach to Delhi, her front end was damaged from multiple bird strikes. However, the plane was able to return to London the following day.
Production began on the 777’s in 1993 and there have been nearly 1,400 built as of the start of 2016. The first to go into service was with United Airlines, delivered on June 7, 1995. The first to be delivered to British Airways was on February 6, 1997.
The maximum range is a lengthy 13,084 kilometres for this 209 feet long airliner. The wingspan is nearly equal to the length at 200 feet. Her maximum speed is 950 km/h.
The national carrier of the United Kingdom came together in 1974 with the merging of four British airlines. The founding member of the Oneworld Airline Alliance has 290 planes flying to 183 destinations throughout the world.
As of the start of 2016, British Airways has 43 Boeing 777-200’s in service. The airline also has eleven Airbus A380’s and an unthinkable 52 Boeing 747’s. For more on their fleet, or that of any other airline, take a look at our article on airline fleet pages.
In September, 2015, a similar Boeing 777-236er belonging to the airline had some major issues. A takeoff from Las Vegas, Nevada was aborted after engine failure and a subsequent fire. Everyone was able to escape the aircraft safely.
It’s About Airplanes
We’ve taken exciting steps to re-organize our airplane photos and info. This new direction will allow us to have a subsite of It’s About Travelling that is exclusively dedicated to airliners. Please, take a look at the new site: It’s About Airplanes!
