After less than 20 flights: The Boeing 747-8 has been canceled for the first time

An era ends shortly after the end of the year. Boeing will deliver the last Boeing 747-8 built in January – And with her the last jumbo plane. in The aircraft plant was built for 54 years 1574 The legendary double-decker copy.

As a small group of invited guests celebrate the delivery of the brand-new Boeing 747 and the latest one at Everett near Seattle, workers 2,570 kilometers to the southeast are busy eviscerating another specimen. Just ten years after its delivery, the Boeing 747-8 with serial number 40065 and American registration N458BJ was dismantled at Benal Airpark.

Saudi Arabia also wanted the new aircraft

Flashbacks: In October 2011, Cargolux became the first airline in the world to take delivery of the Boeing 747-8. Seven months later, it was Lufthansa’s turn to take delivery of its first Boeing 747-8 in the passenger version. “We’ve been looking forward to this moment for years,” then-CEO Christoph Franz said on May 2, 2012 when the plane arrived in Frankfurt.

The Lufthansa chief added that the 747-8 was “the new, modern queen of the sky,” as noted by Spiegel magazine. Saudi Arabia also chose this new queen. In 2008, the government ordered a brand new Boeing 747-8 that will one day carry Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz around the world. But the designated heir to the throne died unexpectedly in 2011.

Selling attempts failed

Despite this, the VVIP was flown to Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg five months after it was delivered at the end of 2012. He should have had a luxury cabin there. But it did not come to that. So the white Boeing 747-8 BBJ was parked at Euro Airport.

Hard to use machine should be sold without the inner part. In the documents, only 29 flight hours and only 16 flights are highlighted as a significant plus in the last attempt. But attempts to sell the Boeing 747-8 for $95 million failed due to a lack of interest.

No more elevator and rudder

Thus the VVIP plane remained unused at the Swiss airport for nearly ten years. Until last spring. On April 15th The ghost jumbo left the Swiss airport. From there it was flown to Pinal Airpark, one of the largest aircraft graveyards in the world.

It is now clear that the Boeing 747-8 will never fly again. In the Arizona desert, the first parts of the Boeing 747-8 with American registration number N458BJ began. The rudder, elevator, flaps on the wings, parts of the tail cone and fuselage panels are already missing. The engines – the most important parts of the aircraft – have already been dismantled.

Not a success, but popular with governments

The 747-8 – also launched as a disruptive maneuver against Airbus’ A380 – was not a success. Boeing has built just 155 of the new version of the jumbo jet. The largest operator is UPS with 28 units, the largest passenger version operator is Lufthansa with 19 units. The manufacturer has had some success with governments. So put Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman and turkey On a Boeing 747-8 to transport heads of state.