For the passenger version of the Boeing 747 – the erstwhile Boeing 747-400 – more airlines are removing them from their fleets.
Cathay Pacific formally closed its chapter on operating passenger Boeing 747-400s with a celebratory flyover of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, with 300 of its staff aboard on a charity flight.
Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 conducting its last passenger flight over Hong Kong – Image, Cathay Pacific.
Cathay Pacific have been operating different variants of the Boeing 747 fleet in passenger services since 1979.
Staff donated a minimum HK$747, and raised a total of around HK$200,000 for the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation.
On its return to Hong Kong International Airport, the aircraft received a ceremonial water salute in recognition of its achievements.
Landing for the last time at Hong Kong International Airport – Image, Cathay Pacific.
The Cathay Pacific 747 passenger fleet provided the backbone of the Cathay Pacific network – with over 160 million passengers carried in 37 years.
The last commercial service was flown on the 1st October 2016, with a return service from Haneda Airport (Japan) to Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific will continue to operate Boeing 747s in their cargo fleet. The airline has a cadre of 14 Boeing 747-8F’s (Freighter) , 6 Boeing 747-400ERF (Extended Range Freighter) and one Boeing 747-BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter).
But for the passenger – the age of the jumbo is slowly beginning to set as airline demand efficiencies which they get from the big twins.
Runway Girl has a great take on the innovations the Boeing 747 brought – and it’s worth a read.
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Not really so sad. The 747-400 has become old and tired and I cannot recall a single airline that refurbished their interiors in some years. Salute a truly grand plane and let it retire in peace. The seating and interiors of far newer airplanes, the 777 and 787 come to mind, are far superior and far more comfortable. Further, genuine First Class service is dying by the numbers, not because it is bad – it is rarely is -, but because most FC seats are occupied by award points flyers, not those paying the bucket fares. In addition, some airlines are required to extract obscene amounts of CASH from departing PAX, even those flying on award tickets. British Airways comes to mind, but of course that is a class-based tax diverted to the government, not BA. Who the heck wants a ‘free’ ticket that includes a thousand bucks in surcharges? -And when I travel, I avoid the U.K. like the plague. When it comes to shooting themselves in the foot, they are the absolute masters. Idiots!