The past two years have been significant for the Boeing 747. Even before the pandemic,
but mainly after it, numerous jumbo jets around the world have been retired. This includes over
30 -400s operated by British Airways, seven from KLM, and five from Qantas. Air India
has four technically still part of the fleet- although these are currently marked as parked.
While Lufthansa is one of the few airlines still using the 747-400 for passenger services,
it appears that four of these aircraft won’t be
reactivated and returning to service any time soon.
On the production side, just four 747s will be delivered by Boeing before the program
ends for good. With all of this in mind,
let’s look at everything going on with the Boeing 747 as of early 2022.
In this video we’ll mainly be covering two types of 747s:
The highly popular 747-400 and its update, the 747-8. We may touch on other, older variants
of jumbo jets, but due to their age, there are certainly fewer of these that are active today.
Data from ch-aviation data indicates that, of the 350 Boeing 747s marked active,
about 23 of these are neither -400s or -8s. Quite a few of these are government-operated jets-
including the two modified 747-200s that operate as the Presidential transports
known as Air Force One. So what can we say about the 747 at this moment in time?
Firstly, when it comes to the 747-400, we can tell you that Lufthansa appears to be the
type’s main operator for passenger services. The German airline operates eight of these aircraft,
which have an average age of 22 years. These jets have been flying all over the world from their
home base at Frankfurt Airport. Cities served this month include, but are not limited to,
Vancouver, Toronto, Orlando, Boston, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
Outside of Lufthansa, Iraqi Airways has a single 747-400 listed as active,
although it doesn’t appear to have operated a service since late March 2022.
It’s a similar situation for Iran’s Mahan Air,
which has one 747-400 that also hasn’t flown since late March. Iran Air appears to still be
operating a single 33-year-old 747-200, which operated flights as recently as early April.
Meanwhile, over at Air India, things are a little more uncertain for the airline’s small fleet of
four 747-400s. Twitter users have noted that the carrier quietly moved one of its jumbo jets,
registered VT-EVB, to the scrapping area of Mumbai airport.
The fate of this aircraft remains unknown.
However, we can tell you that all of Air India’s 747-400s have not flown since late February 2020!
Confusingly, despite the extended time on the ground, the carrier
confirmed in 2021 that it has no intention of removing the quad jets from its fleet.
When it comes to active 747-400s outside of Lufthansa’s passenger services,
it’s all about freighters.
Atlas Air announced in late-January that it had extended its long-term agreement with
Chinese logistics service provider SF Airlines
to operate 747-400 cargo flights between China and the United States.
Over in neighboring Taiwan, a filing issued by China Airlines revealed that 14 of the airline's
747-400 freighters would have their planned service lives cut by a year, from 25 years to 24.
This is due to changes in the fleet plan put into place at the start of the year.
China Airlines currently has 18 Boeing 747-400(FSCD) aircraft. FSCD stands
for Freighter - side cargo door. All are listed as active apart from two younger jets
listed as being in maintenance. According to the portal, the oldest aircraft,
B-18701, is only 21.59 years old, suggesting it still has at least two more years ahead of it,
given the airline's revised service life.
The Taiwanese carrier and its 747 freighters have made the news at least twice already this year!
On January 16th a China Airlines 747-400F, registered as B-18715,
took off as flight CI5240 from Taipei (Taiwan) bound for Anchorage. According to The Aviation
Herald, the jumbo freighter was climbing from Taipei's runway 05L
when the outboard right-hand engine experienced problems.
Sources reported that the engine emitted a series of bangs and streaks of flames, which prompted
the crew to stop the climb at 7,000 feet and shut the engine down. The crew then dumped fuel
and returned to Taipei to safely land on runway zero-five-left at approximately 13:05 local time.
The carrier provided a statement to Simple Flying stating:
"China Airlines cargo flight CI5240 from Taoyuan to Anchorage
had just taken off at 11:45 on January 16 when there was a problem with readouts from engine 4.
The aircraft remained airworthy as the other 3 engines were still
operating normally. Safety is the top priority at China Airlines so the aircraft jettisoned
fuel in accordance with standard operating procedures and landed safely at 13:12. The
aircraft underwent a thorough inspection and has been cleared for return to service."
Later in the month, the same aircraft sustained damage to its engine number 2 following a
crash into a baggage cart while taxiing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
Taking place on January 28th, the Chicago Department of Aviation said
that there were no injuries related to the incident that happened around 06:30.
Local reports indicate that the registration of the jet involved was again B-18715.
A seemingly unlucky aircraft, the jumbo jet had its number 2 engine damaged
after colliding with a baggage cart while taxiing at O’Hare. As shown in images posted
on social media, the damage to the engine was extensive. Fortunately, there were no injuries
reported due to the incident, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
This specific jumbo jet resumed service for about a month after
the Chicago incident. However, for reasons unknown, the aircraft diverted and canceled
a mission from Taipei to Hong Kong on February 26th and hasn’t flown since!
Thankfully, outside of these and a few other minor incidents, many 747-400 and 747-8 freighters
continue to consistently and reliably operate around the world- whether it’s for dedicated
firms like UPS, or for the cargo divisions of airlines such as China Airlines or Korea’s Asiana.
In a more unconventional role for the 747, the ex-Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 known as Cosmic Girl
has been completing satellite launches in recent months. The aircraft deployed its Launcher
One rocket in January, delivering seven new satellites into their target orbit. This brings
the total payloads delivered by the unique launch system to 26 in less than a year of operations.
Given the success of Virgin Orbit’s satellite launching business,
the former Virgin Atlantic quadjet should be flying for many more years to come!
When it comes to specifically looking at the 747-8, there are a few pieces of news to report.
As we noted in a previous Simple Flying video, Singapore-based BOC Aviation had
managed to reclaim a Boeing 747-8F from Russian airfreight operator AirBridgeCargo in late March.
The jet, registered VQ-BFE, flew from Hong Kong to San Bernardino California on March 25th
and has been parked there on the ground ever since.
Two of the more famous 747-8s, set to be the future Presidential transports
of the United States, are having more than their fair share of challenges.
Already expected to be delayed by over a year, recent reporting indicated that there were two
instances earlier this year where Boeing crews were quote-unquote "attempting to shift" the
weight of one of the two jets to quote "jacks from a scaffold-like structure in the factory".
However, reports indicate that some of the jacks were holding
significantly more weight than they were originally designed to support.
As a result, there was concern that the aircraft was damaged- particularly the aircraft’s wings.
However, US Air Force confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that no damage to the jet was sustained.
Meanwhile in Europe, it’s theorized that Lufthansa Technik is hard at work transforming
a never-delivered Lufthansa 747-8 into a VIP transport for the Government of Egypt.
Registered SU-EGY, there have been mumblings that the jumbo jet could replace Egypt’s current
presidential jet, a function currently served by an Airbus A340-200 holding registration SU-GGG.
The 747 has been registered with the Egyptian Air Force since October 13th,
2021 and was flown out to Hamburg the following month.
The length of time it has spent out of service would be a strong indication that it is being
modified for VIP service. Lufthansa Technik- which has a VIP Services division- is based in Hamburg.
As far as regularly scheduled 747-8 passenger services are concerned, you’ll still be able
to fly on the aircraft when booking flights with Lufthansa, Korean Air, or Air China.
In late-January, Lufthansa announced that it would be installing a beautiful new type of premium
economy seat on its 747-8s, indicating that this particular type will be around for years to come.
Sadly, the number of undelivered 747s continues to shrink. With Boeing no longer taking orders
for the type, the planemaker has been working its way through an ever-decreasing backlog.
A Boeing spokesperson told Simple Flying that only five 747s have yet to be delivered-
all of these being -8 freighters. Since Boeing issued that statement, that number
has since gone down to 4. With the most recent delivery going to UPS. At this moment in time,
the last delivery is scheduled for October, with all four set to join the fleet of Atlas Air.
With just a few more months left to go until this final delivery, it will indeed be sad
to see 747 production come to a full and final close. Despite this inevitability,
it looks like jumbo jets will continue to operate far into the future as freighters-
and hopefully for the next decade or so as passenger jets.
When was the last time you flew on a 747? Share your experience by leaving a comment!