Boeing 747 plane converted into cafe in Thailand

A retired Boeing 747 plane has been converted into a cafe in Thailand.

The 29-year-old jumbo jet was used by Orient Thai Airlines before being put into storage in 2016.

The carrier ceased operations two years later in 2018.

However, the iconic aircraft – nicknamed the queen of the skies – has been given a new lease of life entertaining visitors in Bangkok.

Before-and-after footage from the Lad Krabang area of the city shows how the run-down aeroplane has been decorated with tables, chairs, a bar and colourful LED lighting.

Guests can even sit in the cockpit and be entertained by a head waiter dressed in a pilot’s uniform onboard the Boeing 747, which was formerly registered as HS-STA.

The owners of the 747 Cafe said they wanted to give customers an ‘experience of flying without leaving the ground’.

Instagrammable aeroplane cafes have become popular in Thailand, with a similar attraction made from an old Airbus 300 opening in Chonburi province last year.

While another Boeing 747 once belonging to Orient Thai Airlines is parked outside a university in Ubon Ratchathani province ‘as a decoration’.

Dwindling numbers of Boeing 747 jets remain in the skies as carriers replace them with more fuel-efficient alternatives.

Their decline has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis as airlines reduce fleet sizes and continue the trend towards mid-sized planes with fewer seats.

In July last year, British Airways confirmed ‘with great sadness’ that it was retiring all 31 of its Boeing 747s.