Tuesday 31 January will mark the end of an era in aviation: after more than five decades of uninterrupted production, the last Boeing 747 ever built will be delivered to its customer, the cargo airline Atlas Air. This will conclude one of the longest-running and most iconic programmes in the history of the industry.
The aircraft, a 747-8F with registration number N863GT, left the assembly line on 6 December and made its first test flight twelve days later. It is the 1.574th Jumbo to be built.
According to Boeing in a press release, a delivery ceremony will be held starting at 13:00 local time (18:00 in Argentina) and will be broadcast live via an online link provided by the manufacturer.
End of an era
The first Boeing 747-100 made its maiden test flight on 9 February 1969 and entered commercial service for its first customer, Pan Am, on 22 January 1970. The «Queen», as it is also known, was the first wide-body aircraft in history and revolutionised the market for intercontinental air travel.
Towards the end of the 1980s, Boeing launched the most successful variant of the programme: the 747-400. With it, many airlines were able to expand their ultra-long-haul operations. In total, more than 600 aircraft of passenger, air cargo and combi versions were produced.
The «Jumbo» was the world’s largest passenger aircraft until the Airbus A380 was introduced in 2005.
The latest variant, the 747-8, has been developed since 2004 from technology designed for the 787 Dreamliner programme. Cargo version entered service for its first customer, Cargolux, in February 2010. Two years later, the passenger version first operated commercially for Lufthansa, its largest user to date.
