Why does Lufthansa love the 747?

Lufthansa has both the 747 8 and A380 for a variety of reasons. On the one hand, the 747 8 provides the airline with the access to Standard and Business Class seating, as well as the ability to carry more passengers and cargo, while the A380 offers the premium seating in First Class and Business Class.



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According to data from ch-aviation.com, the oldest active Boeing 747 family aircraft left in the world today is a 747-100SF that flies for the Iranian Air Force. Bearing registration 5-8103, this veteran quadjet is 52.86 years old and flew for TWA from 1970 to 1975 before being converted for usage as a freighter.

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The four-engine A380 is only profitable with a high load factor, and only the world's largest airports have facilities to handle the aircraft. Such reasons led Lufthansa CEO to declare the craft “permanently decommissioned.”

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At the end of 2022, the Lufthansa Group fleet comprised 710 aircraft (previous year: 713 aircraft). The average age of the aircraft in the fleet was 13.1 years (previous year: 12.7 years).

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The B747's range falls slightly short of the A380, with a typical range of around 7,790 nautical miles (14,400 kilometers). However, it compensates with a higher top speed, capable of cruising at approximately Mach 0.855. This makes it more versatile, suitable for both long-haul and shorter intercontinental flights.

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Many 747 pilots feel the same, and are pleased, but not surprised, to hear that the British architect Norman Foster once named the aircraft his favorite building of the 20th century. Now, well into the 21st century, I asked Mr. Foster for an update. The 747 “still moves me now as it did then,” he told me in an email.

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Sure, the 747 is a Type Certified and airworthy aircraft, the FAA does not really care who owns it so long as they play by the rules. Boeing even sells them directly to the private market via their BBJ line.

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Built in 1967 to produce the mammoth jet, it remains the world's largest manufacturing plant according to Boeing. But after five decades, customer demand for the 747 eroded as Boeing and Airbus (AIR.PA) developed more fuel efficient two-engine widebody planes.

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The German airline has eight 747-400 planes in its fleet that it operates out of Frankfurt.

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Get Simon Calder's Travel email. Is this the shortest-ever Boeing 747 flight? British Airways flew a 25-year-old 747, the iconic aircraft known as the Queen of the Skies, just four miles yesterday. Flight BA9172 was flying from Cardiff to St Athan, the location of an engineering base, for the aircraft to be retired.

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The Airbus A380 – Lufthansa's flagship The A380 is the largest and heaviest passenger aircraft in the world. It is 73 meters long, 24 meters high, and has a takeoff weight of up to 560 tons. The Lufthansa A380 seats 509 passengers, and its four Rolls-Royce engines each generate 70000lbs of thrust.

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Lufthansa is Certified as a 4-Star Airline for the quality of its airport and onboard product and staff service.

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Air France-KLM has revealed plans to retire its older widebody fleet, in favor of more modern, fuel-efficient aircraft. The Franco-Dutch airline group already withdrew the mighty Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 from service following the pandemic, and is now making plans to retire its aging Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s.

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Currently, the world's biggest international airline has on order 50 A350-900s, 30 787-9s and 115 Boeing 777Xs. The airline operates 119 A380s, 123 Boeing 777-300ERs and 10 Boeing 777-200LRs. The 777X aircraft will replace the A380s, while the A350s and 787s will eventually replace the 777s.

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For some airlines, the A380 offered too much capacity, while for Emirates, the airline can't get enough of the plane. Unfortunately for Emirates (and us passengers), the days of the Airbus A380 are numbered. Airbus stopped A380 production in 2021, as there weren't sufficient orders to keep production going.

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Boeing's 777X, its latest passenger plane model and projected replacement for the 747, is set for delivery in 2025.

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