Stories in the aviation press that four former British Airways 747 aircraft have been registered in Bermuda are wide of the mark, the head of the island’s Civil Aviation Authority revealed.

Thomas Dunstan, director-general of the BCAA, said: “We are aware that these aircraft have been de-registered from the UK aircraft registry but, despite the stories circulating, we have not been approached to register them. At least not yet.”

Mr Dunstan was speaking after the appearance of numerous stories in the aviation press, including on the website Simple Flying that said that the four jumbo jets had been registered in Bermuda. Simple Flying said its information was based on data from the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK.

Some sites have speculated that the planes have a future with Russian airline, Rossiya.

British Airways announced last July that its remaining fleet of 31 Boeing 747-400 aircraft was to be retired with immediate effect after nearly five decades of service.

The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the airline and the airline sector was cited as the reason for the retirement of its fleet of jumbo jets.

At the time, British Airways said the fuel-hungry aircraft were slowly being phased out by the airline as they reached the end of their working life in order to help meet the company’s commitment to net zero by 2050.

Simple Flying said the four aircraft that have been de-registered in the UK were grounded in April of last year.

They have been in storage in Teruel, Spain since then, the website said.