Summary
- Parts from retired Boeing 747s are upcycled into furniture and art.
- Each piece has a unique history but comes with a hefty price tag.
- The decline of the 747 began due to aircraft efficiency and the impact of COVID-19.
Did you know some companies are taking parts from scrapped Boeing 747s and turning them into high-end furniture? Whether for aviation-themed hotels, bars, restaurants, or even home offices, specialist companies are upcycling Boeing 747s components into furniture and decorative art.
Specialist upcyclers of old aircraft parts are always looking to find innovative ways to bring new life into retired aircraft parts. Each piece of a Boeing 747 made into a piece of furniture or decorative art comes with a unique history, provenance, and a story linked to the aircraft it has come from.
While parts from a retired Boeing 747 may sound cool to have as a desk, chair, or wall mirror, it is worth pointing out that these upcycled 747 parts come with a pretty hefty price tag.
The beginning of the end for the Boeing 747
The demise of the Boeing 747 began in the mid-1980s when the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) extended the Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards (ETOPS) to 120 minutes. On February 1, 1985, a twin-engine Trans World Airlines Boeing 767-200 flew from Boston to Paris, proving that you did not need to operate four-engine aircraft on lucrative transatlantic routes. Three years later, in 1988, the FAA extended ETOPS to 180 minutes with the twin-engine Boeing 777, the first aircraft to be awarded the 180-minute rating.
Over 50 years of Boeing 747 production ended on December 6, 2022, when a Boeing 747-8F was completed for American cargo operator Atlas Air. Airlines soon learned that operating twin-engine aircraft was far more efficient and profitable than four-engined planes like the Boeing 747. In 2009, the Airbus A330 received ETOPS-240 approval, and two years later, the FAA agreed to give aircraft fitted with General Electric engines an ETOPS rating of 330 minutes. As the demand for four-engined planes slowed down, Boeing began concentrating on its 777 and the 787 Dreamliner.
COVID-19 global pandemic
The final nail in the coffin for the Boeing 747 was during the global COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, in 2019. By 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and countries began closing their borders.
Photo: Lufthansa
With international air travel virtually non-existent, airlines used COVID-19 as an excuse to retire their Boeing 747s. While many cargo operators still fly freighter versions of the plane, the only airlines that still use the aircraft for passenger flights in 2024 are Air China, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Asiana Airlines, and Saudia.
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When airlines retired their Boeing 747s, the aircraft were sent to companies that specialized in carefully dismantling the planes so that expensive parts like engines could be sold for spare parts. Besides the parts of the aircraft that can be sold for spare parts, dismantlers want to repurpose and recycle as much of the airframe as possible to be environmentally responsible and minimize waste. It is here where artists and furniture makers step in to buy parts of the plane like windows, seats, and drinks trolleys so that they can be upcycled and sold for a nice profit.
The best place to look for items made from the Boeing 747 is in the Boeing store in Seattle or when taking the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour at Payne Field in Mukilteo, Washington. For buyers unable to visit a Boeing store, items can also be purchased online at boeingstore.com.
Aerotiques
Gloucester-based Aerotiques has the following Boeing 747 items for sale:
BOAC window wall clock
Photo: Aeroantiques
A fuselage section BOAC wall clock with a 24-carat gold leaf logo detail measuring approximately 31.5 x 16.5 inches for £595 ($745). While each wall clock may differ slightly in size and finish, they all came off a former British Airways Boeing 747-400 with the registration G-BYGC.
The plane was delivered to British Airways on January 17, 1999. Twenty years later, in January 2019, G-BYGC was selected to be repainted in the British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) livery to mark the airline’s 100 years of operations. The aircraft made its final revenue flight on April 4, 2020, when it flew from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
Double British Airways Boeing 747 window section
Photo: Aerotiques
Double Ex-British Airways Boeing 747 fuselage sections measuring approximately 37 by 37 inches for £1,595.00 ($1995). For sale with its original British Airways paint scheme or highly polished finish, the double window section of the fuselage comes with a brass hanging point that can be easily hung on a wall as a decorative piece of art.
Jet Set Lounge
The Reading, Berkshire-based Jet Set Lounge has the following Boeing 747 parts for sale:
Boeing 747 window desk
A British Airways Boeing 747 triple window desk for £3,890 ($4,866). Swiss-designed and hand-crafted in England, this spectacular Boeing 747 office desk can also be used as a six-seat dining table. A toughened glass top protects the highly polished fuselage section of the Boeing 747. The legs supporting the desk are upcycled parts of Recaro seats taken from a former Qatar Airways Airbus A330.
Plane Industires
Bath-based Plane Industries has the following Boeing 747 items for sale:
Boeing 747 coffee table
A glass-topped coffee table is sitting on a Boeing 747 wheel hub for an undisclosed price. Once the wheel hub is removed, it undergoes a chemical process to remove its former finish before being sanded and then highly polished to a mirror finish. Undertaken entirely by hand from start to finish, more than 100 hours go into each coffee table. The inside of the wheel hub is given a powder coating of matte black paint and then fitted with a toughened circular glass top.
Boeing 747 wall clock
Photo: Plane Industries
A Boeing 747 window clock for £400 ($500) is available with several color clock faces. Each window section is carefully removed from the aircraft and then painstakingly cleaned, sanded, and polished before receiving a powder coating to produce a unique, stunning wall clock. Produced in limited special editions, each Boeing 747 wall clock comes with a handmade bracket ready to hand right out of the box.
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