Why is the 747 being discontinued?

But after five decades, customer demand for the 747 eroded as Boeing and Airbus (AIR.PA) developed more fuel efficient two-engine widebody planes. When Boeing confirmed in July 2020 that it would end 747 production, it was already only producing at a rate of half an aircraft a month.



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No more 747s are being made, but Boeing notes that they're still taking flight. The 1970s version even inspired one man to build a ground-based replica. We are proud that this plane will continue to fly across the globe for years to come, Boeing's Smith said. Copyright 2023 NPR.

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The final 747 was delivered to Atlas Air in January 2023 after a 54-year production run, with 1,574 aircraft built.

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There were 440 Boeing 747 aircraft in active airline service as of August 2023, comprising 0 747-100s, 2 747SPs, 19 747-200s, 4 747-300s, 261 747-400s, and 154 747-8s. These aircraft are listed by airline operators and variant in the following table.

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November 27, 1983: An Avianca 747-200 crashed while on approach to the airport in Madrid, Spain, killed 181 of the 192 people on board. June 23, 1985: An Air India 747-200 blew up over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland, killed all 329 people on board. The plane, en-route to Bombay, was destroyed by a bomb.

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Now that the pandemic seems under control, the great queens of the sky are making a comeback. Etihad, Emirates, Lufthansa, Qantas, British Airways and other airlines, including new start-up Global, are putting the A380 back to work.

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According to Boeing's data, the 777-9 has a total length of 251 feet 9 inches (76.72 meters). The 747-8 is just a bit smaller at 250 feet 2 inches (76.3 meters).

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Boeing Y3, to replace the 777-300 and 747 product lines. Y3 covers the 350–600+ passenger market, and is expected to be the third Yellowstone Project aircraft to be developed. It would compete with the Airbus A380 family as well as the largest model of the A350 family, the A350-1000.

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Since its introduction, the A380 has established a strong safety record and is regarded as one of the safest aircraft in the world. The aircraft has been involved in only two significant incidents since its introduction – a 2011 crash in France and a 2016 tyre burst incident in Australia.

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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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Currently, the bragging rights for the longest flight in the world belong to Singapore Airlines' New York City to Singapore route. Its longest flight path, which connects Singapore's Changi Airport with New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, 9,585 miles away, takes 18 hours and 40 minutes.

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The arrival of the A380 in 2007 was poorly timed. The price of jet fuel had begun to creep up, and by 2007 was floating at around $4 a gallon. This made airlines shy away from the expensive to operate four engine jets of the 80s and 90s, and to look instead to fuel efficiency as a major deciding factor.

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the world's most modern aircraft.

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In the end, double-deckers such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747 had a major issue: they had four engines. While having four engines and two decks allowed to carry more passengers in a single flight, it also led to higher costs.

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Atlas Air, flying the largest number of 747s in history, operates cargo and charter flights. For charter operations, Atlas currently has five 747s. There are two different aircraft configurations: the 747-400 VIP and the 747-400 HD.

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Scroll down for a full list of carriers never to have had a fatal accident.
  • Qantas. Flying since 1921. ...
  • Hawaiian Airlines. Flying since 1929. ...
  • Southwest. Flying since 1971. ...
  • EasyJet. Flying since 1995. ...
  • Ryanair. Flying since 1985. ...
  • Virgin Atlantic/Australia/America. Flying since 1984/2000/2007.
  • British Airways. Flying since 1974. ...
  • Emirates.


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