Last year, Qantas retired its Boeing 747 fleet. While it’s been sad to see the “queen of the skies” go, this has created some unique opportunities for aviation enthusiasts to own a small part of history.
Planetags has been selling luggage tags made from genuine Qantas 747 aircraft skins. Qantas also made headlines last September by selling off used Boeing 747 bar carts, which came fully stocked with wine. These proved hugely popular with AFF members. But these are not the only collectibles up for grabs!
Serious aviation enthusiasts now have an opportunity to buy Qantas 747 memorabilia including old aircraft seats, windows, cockpit panels, parts of fuselage and even winglets.
Salvaged parts from VH-OEB, a Qantas 747 named “Phillip Island” which Qantas retired in June 2019, are available for purchase from a company called Airline Artifacts. The products are not cheap, but if you have $690 to spare you can purchase a genuine section of window fuselage. For $1,500 you could even pick up a pair of Qantas’ older-generation Dreamtime Business Class seats.
Cockpit seats are on sale starting from $2,700 each, and there is still one genuine winglet from VH-OEB available for $17,000. These items could make very cool gifts for fans of the Boeing 747!
All of the Qantas 747 memorabilia items on sale are currently in Airline Artifacts’ US warehouse and are due to be shortly shipped to Australia, for arrival in March. Pickup will be available in Sydney and the Gold Coast, with an additional fee for home delivery to other areas.
Customers spending over $3,000 with Airline Artifacts will also have an opportunity to fly in their Qantas 747 simulator in Sydney for free.
Other aviation-inspired gifts
There are of course many other businesses also selling used aircraft parts, as well as aviation-inspired gifts. Airportag is one such supplier that sells great gifts including phone cases, pillows, cushions, shirts and backpacks. In a sign of the times, they recently added face masks to their collection.
And then there’s businesses like Sky Art which sell aviation-themed furniture. Some of those airline seat office chairs look great, although there are no prices listed online and delivery to Australia could be expensive.
Online auction sites such as eBay, Gumtree or Etsy are also filled with aviation collectibles. So whatever you’re looking for, there’s a chance you’ll find it somewhere!
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Memorabilia
