Forum: aviation.stackexchange.com
Tags: <airlines><boeing-747>
Title: Are there any Boeing 747 still flying for commercial use?
Question: No American airline flies it anymore, but the Jumbo has been mythic for decades:   ANA B747-400.  Wikimedia , photo by Kentaro Iemoto  Is it still possible for a passenger to board a Jumbo Jet? Which airlines are still operating the B747 in 2018?

Answers:
sents: text: Quite a few, actually.
text: British Airways is the largest operator of B747-400 and flies a number of routes: Where does the Boeing 747-400 fly?
text: The aircraft operates on a variety of routes, including: Beijing Boston Cape Town Dubai Lagos Las Vegas Mexico Miami New York (JFK) Phoenix San Francisco Toronto Air China operates both 747-400s and 747-8s KLM does so but is phasing the 747-400 out Korean Air, Lufthansa, Thai Airways, Virgin, El Al, Saudia operate 747s, among others.
text: Wikipedia lists 489 747s in service as of July 2017 though around half of them are cargo and the numbers would have reduced still further by now.
text: The latest data that I could lay my hands on lists the following airlines (less than twenty, sadly): Air China Air India Asiana Airlines Atlas Air British Airways China Airlines Corsair El Al Iraqi Airways KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Korean Air Lufthansa Mahan Air Qantas Rossiya Airlines Thai Airways Virgin Atlantic Wamos Air
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/9731/aeroalias
score: 36
sents: text: There are many airlines still operating the 747 in passenger service.
text: Lufthansa has bought the 747-8, the last delivery was in April 2015, so I'd expect that the 747 will be in passenger service for at least another 20 years.
text: Here's your choice: KLM Lufthansa (both the Boeing 747-400 and 747-8) British Airways Thai Airways Virgin Atlantic Iran Air (747-200, probably the oldest passenger 747 still in commercial service) China Airlines Air China
text: Korean Air Qantas Air Atlanta Icelandic El AL Corsair Dubai Air Wing Saudi Airlines Royal Air Maroc Wamos Air Rossiya Airlines Atlas Asiana ...
text: Probably more, but this is a start.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/19/DeltaLima
score: 28
sents: text: There are still lots of 747's in scheduled passenger service and at least a few dozen of them will almost certainly remain so for the next 20+ years.
text: 747-400 British Airways has 36 of them with retirement scheduled for 2024 .
text: Virgin Atlantic has 8 of them with retirement beginning in 2019 .
text: KLM has 14 of them Qantas has 10 of them China Airlines still has some El Al still flies them , but is planning retirement in 2019.
text: Several others around the world There were deliveries of passenger 747-400s all the way up through 2005 , so the newest ones are only about 12-13 years old.
text: The U.S. airlines, however, were among the first customers and had some of the oldest ones.
text: In Delta's case, they literally had the oldest one, as Northwest (which Delta acquired several years ago) was the launch customer of the 747-400.
text: So, while Delta and United's 747s were mostly over 20 years old (some over 25,) many other customers operate much newer ones.
text: 747-8I
text: While the 747-400s are on their way out, the 747-8Is are mostly only a few years old and should still be flying for decades.
text: These are currently flown by 3 airlines in scheduled passenger service, as well as several others in charter and/or VIP service.
text: Lufthansa has 19 of them
text: Korean Air has 10 of them
text: Air China has 7 of them While the Delta 747-400s with their lovely 14-seat 1-1 business-class configuration upstairs are unfortunately no more, if you're looking to ride upstairs on a 747, my personal recommendation would be Korean Air's 747-8s.
text: Other Commercial Operations
text: There are lots of 747s in cargo service and this doesn't appear likely to change any time soon.
text: The 747-8F is still in production and has accounted for almost all of the recent new 747 orders.
text: It appears that it will remain in production for at least the next few years and possibly quite a bit longer than that.
text: UPS ordered 14 of them a little over a year ago, so that will keep the line going for at least a couple more years by itself.
text: Aside from the numerous 747-400 cargo and charter operators, the following operators all fly the 747-8F and, so, will likely continue flying it for a couple more decades: UPS (14)
text: AirBridgeCargo (7)
text: Silk Way Airlines (5) Saudi Cargo (5) Korean Air Cargo (7) (in addition to the 10 747-8Is operated by Korean Air) Cathay Pacific Cargo (14) Volga-Dnepr Airlines (5) Atlas Air (10)
text: Nippon Cargo Airlines (8) Cargolux (14)
text: Additionally, 8 747-8Is are being operated as business jets or VIP jets, not counting the 2 recently purchased by the U.S. Air Force for use as the next Air Force One fleet.
text: If the past is any indication, the Air Force One 747-8s will likely still be in regular service (though technically not commercial service) even longer than most of the other recent 747 deliveries, due to the relatively low number of flight cycles that they get.
text: They could possibly remain in service 30 years from now or more.
text: For comparison, the current Air Force One fleet is composed of modified 747-200s, which have long been retired from airline service.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/755/reirab
score: 28
sents: text: I took this photo in July 2016 at the Frankfurt airport.
text: So at least in 2016 Lufthansa did indeed operate Boeing 747.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/2857/jnovacho
score: 6
sents: text: Delta just retired their last 747, but plenty of others still use them.
text: If you are in the Dallas area, you can see several 747's (mostly cargo, but BA operates the DFW->LHR->DFW route with a 747-400 - we call her "The Queen")
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/28177/Amy
score: 1
sents: text: Looking at the older models, even the 747-200 is in commercial use, here is a complete list .
text: Some days ago a 747-200 of Fars Air Qeshm was damaged in an accident.
text: Boeing is not allowed to deliver repair parts.
text: But mins asks actually about flying as passenger.
text: I'm not sure, but a 747SP is some kind of 747-100?
text: So it is maybe possible to fly as passenger with one from Las Vegas Sands .
text: But I'm afraid you have to spend a lot of money.
answer_details: author: aviation.stackexchange.com/users/1084/Peter
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Many airlines are still usingthe 747 Jumbo jet even though Delta have retired their last one. Moreover, the 747-81 is quite new and should be fluing for many decades more.
There are actually a lot of airlines that operate them for passenger use, mainly the 747-8Is. A list of the airlines still using them: British Airways, Air China, Air India,  Asiana Airlines,  Atlas Air, China Airlines, Corsair, El Al Iraqi Airways,  KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Mahan Air, Qantas, Rossiya Airlines, Thai Airways, Virgin Atlantic  Wamos Air, and one can even be seen  in the Dallas area.