More than 25 years after it touched down in Australia, the final resting place of the Qantas 747 jumbo that set a record by making the longest non-stop flight for an airline is expected to be a museum south of Wollongong.

Named the City of Canberra, the Boeing 747-400 is likely to be gifted to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at the Illawarra Regional Airport, and in the process become a major tourist attraction for the region.

Wollongong bound: City of Canberra set a record in 1989 for flying non-stop from London to Sydney.

Registered VH-OJA, the jumbo has been parked at Qantas' jet base at Sydney Airport since it made its last commercial flight from Johannesburg in South Africa to Sydney last week.

Instead of sending it to an aircraft graveyard in a desert in California, Qantas wants the aircraft preserved because of its historical value. The Boeing 747-400 jumbo set a record in August 1989 for the longest non-stop flight for an airline when it flew from London to Sydney in 20 hours and nine minutes.