Boeing plans final end of 747 with Atlas Air placing final order

• Atlas Air on Tuesday announced an order for four planes for the Boeing 747-8F, the US aircraft manufacturer’s largest production freighter.
• Boeing said it would be the last 747 to be built as the program ended after half a century.
• Demand for cargo planes skyrocketed during the pandemic, and the 747 provided the one thing most freighters couldn’t with its front loading door.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Atlas Air on Tuesday announced an order for an all-new Boeing 747-8F as freight demand continues to rise during the pandemic. The order for four aircraft valued at over $ 1.6 billion based on current list prices will bring Atlas’s 747 fleet to 57 aircraft and further strengthen the freight carrier as the largest operator of 747 Freighters in the world. world.

The 747-8F is the largest freighter produced by Boeing, based on the 747-8i, which turned out to be a flop despite a successful past for the aircraft family. Boeing launched the first 747 in 1969 and, while it was once a status symbol for airlines around the world, the aircraft has proven to be obsolete in the modern age once attention shifted scope on the fuel-efficient twin-engine jets that could fly this far.

Boeing announced in July that the 747 would be phased out of production within the next two years, as declining customer demand was a clear signal that the airplane’s time had come to an end. It was believed at the time that UPS Airlines or Volga-Dnepr Group’s AirBridgeCargo would be one of the final recipients of the plane as both had the most pending orders.

For Atlas, the 747-8F offers 20% more cargo capacity and 16% lower fuel consumption compared to the 747-400F, of which the transporter currently has 34. And compared to the 777F, the 747-8F offers 25% more loading capacity.

“The 747-8F is the best large and versatile cargo ship on the market, and we are delighted to strengthen our fleet with the acquisition of these four aircraft,” said John Dietrich, President and CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide. declaration.

The acquisition of the last four planes gives Atlas the option of piloting the aircraft in-house or leasing them to other carriers.

Cargo airlines like Atlas have been looking for more planes since passenger airlines cut their flight schedules and took valuable cargo space with them. Carriers that had been retired and stored before the start of the pandemic have been reactivated and passenger airlines have started to devote flights solely to cargo.

Read more: Emirates chairman reveals how glitzy airline’s hopes turned to freight shipping to stay afloat as pandemic ravages international travel

Amazon also bought 11 Boeing 767-300ER airliners to use as cargo ships for Prime Air, taking advantage of the downturn in the airline industry to expand its dedicated fleet. While millions of dollars will be spent converting them into freighters, they were likely purchased at a much cheaper price than they normally would, as the previous owners – Delta Air Lines and WestJet – no longer needed the planes.

But a freight renaissance could not stop the inevitable end of the Boeing 747 program which has played a vital role in the global logistics system for the past five decades.

“The seven-four will be missed,” Neel Jones Shah, global air cargo manager at Flexport, told Insider in a previous interview. “I’ll tell you what we will miss the most about this plane is the front door.”

Besides the 747, the only civilian cargo jets with a front door are the Antonov An-224 Mriya and the An-124 Ruslan, both incredibly rare compared to mass-produced Boeing planes. The plane was always designed to be a freighter, as Pan Am boss Juan Trippe had believed that supersonic jets like the Concorde would fly passengers while traditional jets like the 747 would be relegated to freighter.

General Electric GEnx motors with carbon fiber composite fan blades exclusively power the 747-8F and provide a 15% increase in fuel efficiency. Takeoff thrust with all four engines is 66,500 pounds, according to the automaker.

And despite a published range of 4,120 nautical miles, according to Boeing, the 747-8F can travel well in excess of 6,000 nautical miles. UPS Airlines, for example, regularly operates nonstop flights between its Louisville Worldport and Dubai using the aircraft, although the aircraft’s weight is likely to be limited to maximize range.

The Boeing 747 will continue to fly for years to come, as cargo carriers will want to make the most of the soon-to-be-extinct aircraft. However, airliners quickly ditched the Jumbo Jet with Qantas, British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic Airways, among others, all of whom have said goodbye to the plane in recent years.

Boeing expects the final 747 to be delivered to Atlas in October 2022.