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| Boeing 747-8 | |
|---|---|
| |
| A Lufthansa 747-8I wearing 1970s heritage livery seen at Frankfurt International Airport in 2018. | |
| Role | Wide-body jet airliner |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Boeing Commercial Airplanes |
| First flight | 747-8F: February 8, 2010 747-8I: March 20, 2011 |
| Introduction | 747-8F: October 12, 2011, with Cargolux 747-8I: June 1, 2012, with Lufthansa |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | UPS Airlines Lufthansa Korean Air Cathay Pacific Cargo |
| Produced | 2008–2023 |
| Number built | 155 |
| Developed from | Boeing 747-400 |
| Variants | Boeing VC-25B SAOC |
The Boeing 747-8 is the final series of the large, long-range wide-body airliners in the Boeing 747 family from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 747-8 is the largest variant of the 747 and Boeing's largest aircraft. After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck Airbus A3XX, later developed as the Airbus A380. The stretched 747 Advanced was launched as the 747-8 on November 14, 2005, for a market forecast of 300 aircraft. The first 747-8F Freighter performed its maiden flight on February 8, 2010, and the passenger 747-8I Intercontinental followed suit on March 20, 2011. The cargo version was first delivered in October 2011 and the airliner began commercial service in June 2012.
Its fuselage is stretched by 18 feet (5.5 m) to 250 feet (76 m), making it the longest airliner until the 777X, which first flew in 2020. While keeping its basic structure and sweep, the wing is thicker and deeper, holding more fuel, and wider with raked wingtips. Powered more efficiently than preceding 747s by a smaller version of the General Electric GEnx turbofan from the 787 Dreamliner, its maximum take-off weight (MTOW) grew to 975,000 pounds (442 t), the heaviest Boeing airliner. The Freighter version has a shorter upper deck and can haul 308,000 pounds (140 t) over 4,120 nautical miles [nmi] (7,630 km; 4,740 mi). The Intercontinental version can carry 467 passengers in a typical three-class configuration over 7,790 nautical miles (14,430 km; 8,960 mi). A total of 155 aircraft were built including 107 freighters and 48 passenger airliners. The final aircraft, a 747-8F, was delivered to Atlas Air on January 31, 2023.