Which Airline Had The Largest Fleet Of Boeing 747s?
The Boeing 747 has been the most iconic airliner the world has ever known. It
successfully shrank the world, enabling more people to fly further than ever before.
While the in-service fleet is dwindling today, over the years more than 1,500 have been delivered
to airlines. Let’s take a look at which carriers were the biggest operators of the jumbo jet.
Plenty of airlines are closely tied to the Boeing 747, but the world’s biggest operator
of all time might well surprise you. The airline that has operated the most 747s ever
is not Singapore or Pan Am, or even British Airways… it’s Japan Airlines.
Since the 1970s, JAL has operated a total of 108 Boeing 747s. It was the launch customer of the
Boeing 747-100 and also of the specially designed 747SR-100 - a short-range version with reduced
fuel capacity but added payload. 12 -100SRs flew for JAL, alongside eight standard -100s.
JAL also took delivery of 24 747-200s, along with seven -200Fs for JAL Cargo. Later, it took nine
-300s in standard configuration and four -300SRs. The variant with the biggest presence in JAL’s
fleet was, however, the 747-400. In total, the airline took 44 of the -400s, 34 of which were the
standard type and two were freighters. Eight were the ‘domestic’ version, the -400D. The -400D was
used on high volume, short routes, and provided JAL with capacity for as many as 624 people.
The 747-400 was the real gamechanger and the best-selling product in Boeing’s 747 line up.
In total, 442 standard passenger 747-400s were delivered to airlines around the world.
When you include the special variants such as the D, the ER,
the ERF, the freighter and the combi -400M, that number rises to 694 of the type.
That gives the 747-400 family almost a 40% share of the total 747 production.
The biggest operator of the standard passenger variant was British Airways, with a fleet of 57.
Other major operators included United Airlines with its fleet of 44,
and Singapore Airlines with 42 in passenger service and a further 17 freighters. S.I.A.
flew its last 747 in 2012, while United bid farewell to its last jumbo in 2017.
As of December 2020, just 435 of the 1,572 747s ever built remain in operation worldwide.
A large number of those are cargo planes, so it should come as no surprise that the
world’s largest operator today is a cargo airline: Atlas Air.
Atlas Air operates 40 747s, a handful of which are actually passenger aircraft.
Just six -400s fly in a VIP configuration as passenger planes,
but the rest are all freighters. These are split between 30 -400Fs and four -8Fs.
The airline recently bought the last four 747s ever to be built by Boeing.
These days, the largest operator of the passenger variant is Lufthansa, which is recorded as having
29 in service. 10 are the -400, for which the future remains uncertain. But the other 19
are the more modern, fuel-efficient -8i, which will likely stay in service for some years yet.
Were you surprised that Japan Airlines had ordered the most 747s? Let us know in the comments.