Asiana Airlines announced that it will retire its last passenger Boeing 747-400 on March 25.
The aircraft registration number HL7428, which was brought back into service in July 2023, will make the daily flight between Seoul (Incheon) and Taipei, in Taiwan, from March 1st, replacing the 777-200.
After that, the 398-seat four-engine jet will be removed from service and returned to its lessor. Asiana, however, will continue with the 747 but in cargo versions only.
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Asiana is set to be acquired by Korean Air in a deal announced in 2020 that is still in the process of obtaining antitrust approvals.
The merger between the two South Korean carriers is expected to have some consequences such as the sale of Asiana’s cargo division, in addition to the transfer of slots for Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Frankfurt to the low-cost airline T’Way.
Few 747-400 passengers remaining
The retirement of Asiana’s last 747-400 further reduces the model’s already modest operation on passenger routes.
According to Planespotters, there would only be a few aircraft left at Lufthansa, Air China and Saudia taking on flights while the majority of the active fleet was converted to cargo.
The 747-400 was introduced by Boeing in 1985 and entered service in 1989 with Northwest Airlines.
When production ended, the manufacturer had delivered 694 aircraft of the type.
