Less than six months after Airbus delivered the last A380 produced, another massive plane is about to bid farewell to the assembly line. Boeing has begun final assembly of the last 747 at its plant in Everett, Washington. The aircraft is a 747-8F, a freighter variant of the “Jumbo”, which is part of an order for four units by Atlas Air.
At the end of May, according to Aviation & Week, the airframer joined the left wing of the aircraft, ending a process that had been going on for more than 50 years since the first 747 went into production.
From now on, Boeing will finalize systems, install engines and begin testing ahead of delivery to Atlas Air, scheduled for the end of 2022.
During its career, the Boeing 747 has accumulated 1,768 firm orders, of which only three aircraft are pending for Atlas Air as the first of four 747-8Fs was delivered on June 3.
Atlas Air has 46 Boeing 747s in its fleet, the largest in the world, but most of them are 747-400 converted for cargo, no less than 41 planes.
The second largest operator of “Queen of the Skies” is UPS, also a freighter, which took delivery of its last 747-8F on April 9, out of a total of 28 operated by the company.
