The Boeing 747

The Boeing 747

KAL and the 747 747‑200F 747‑200F 747‑200 747‑200 747SP 747SP 747‑300 747‑300 747‑400 747‑400 747‑400F 747‑400F 747‑8F 747‑8F 747‑8I 747‑8I 747-200F Korean Air's partnership with the Boeing 747 begins in 1970 with an order for the 747-200F. In service in 1973, Korean Air was the first 747 freighter operator in the Pacific. The 747-200F offered a capacity of 105 tons (95.3 tonnes). This marked the 200th order for the 747 family. 747-200 Korean Air places an order for 747s – Boeing's largest commercial-airplane agreement at the time with a non U.S. airline. The order for 10 firm and eight options, includes 747 freighters, 747-100s and 747-200s. 747SP The Boeing 747 Special Performance, or SP, is a modified version designed for ultra-long-range flights. The 747SP is 48 feet 4 inches (14.73 m) shorter than the 747-100. Korean Air used the 747SP from Seoul to the U.S. and Europe. 747-300 Korean Air introduces the 747-300, featuring an extended upper deck – more than 23 feet longer—and carries more passengers than the 747-200. The 747−300 introduced a new straight stairway to the upper deck, instead of a spiral staircase on earlier variants, which creates room above and below for more seats. 747-400 Korean Air begins operating the first of 27 747-400s. The newest of the 747 family, it offers increased range and fuel efficiency with a wingspan of 212 feet (64 meters), and 6-foot-high (1.8-meter-high) "winglets" on the wingtips. 747-400F The first 747-400 Freighter is delivered to Korean Air Cargo, the largest transpacific cargo carrier and the largest intra-Asian cargo carrier. The 747 400 Freighter is the largest commercial cargo transport in service at this time carrying 124 tons (113,000 kg) of cargo more than 4,400 nautical miles. By 2001, Korean Air has ordered 10 747-400 Freighters and eight 747-400 Extended Range Freighters. 747-8F The 747-8 Freighter enters Korean Air's fleet, with a range of 4,390 nautical miles (8,130 km) and a maximum structural payload capacity of 148 tons (134 tonnes), while offering an additional 4,221 cubic feet (120 m3) and 16 percent more revenue cargo volume than the 747-400 Freighter. Korean Air becomes the first airline in the world to operate both the 747-8 and 777 Freighters. 747-8I Korean Air becomes the first operator of both the passenger and freighter versions of the newest 747. Korean Air's newest 747-8 Intercontinental is configured with 368 seats and features new First Class Kosmo Suites with sliding doors and higher partitions to provide added privacy for passengers. The suites are equipped with updated in-flight entertainment systems, with large 24-inch high-definition monitors and new handheld touch remotes.

747‑200F 747‑200F 747‑200 747‑200 747SP 747SP 747‑300 747‑300 747‑400 747‑400 747‑400F 747‑400F 747‑8F 747‑8F 747‑8I 747‑8I 747-200F Korean Air's partnership with the Boeing 747 begins in 1970 with an order for the 747-200F. In service in 1973, Korean Air was the first 747 freighter operator in the Pacific. The 747-200F offered a capacity of 105 tons (95.3 tonnes). This marked the 200th order for the 747 family. 747-200 Korean Air places an order for 747s – Boeing's largest commercial-airplane agreement at the time with a non U.S. airline. The order for 10 firm and eight options, includes 747 freighters, 747-100s and 747-200s. 747SP The Boeing 747 Special Performance, or SP, is a modified version designed for ultra-long-range flights. The 747SP is 48 feet 4 inches (14.73 m) shorter than the 747-100. Korean Air used the 747SP from Seoul to the U.S. and Europe. 747-300 Korean Air introduces the 747-300, featuring an extended upper deck – more than 23 feet longer—and carries more passengers than the 747-200. The 747−300 introduced a new straight stairway to the upper deck, instead of a spiral staircase on earlier variants, which creates room above and below for more seats. 747-400 Korean Air begins operating the first of 27 747-400s. The newest of the 747 family, it offers increased range and fuel efficiency with a wingspan of 212 feet (64 meters), and 6-foot-high (1.8-meter-high) "winglets" on the wingtips. 747-400F The first 747-400 Freighter is delivered to Korean Air Cargo, the largest transpacific cargo carrier and the largest intra-Asian cargo carrier. The 747 400 Freighter is the largest commercial cargo transport in service at this time carrying 124 tons (113,000 kg) of cargo more than 4,400 nautical miles. By 2001, Korean Air has ordered 10 747-400 Freighters and eight 747-400 Extended Range Freighters. 747-8F The 747-8 Freighter enters Korean Air's fleet, with a range of 4,390 nautical miles (8,130 km) and a maximum structural payload capacity of 148 tons (134 tonnes), while offering an additional 4,221 cubic feet (120 m3) and 16 percent more revenue cargo volume than the 747-400 Freighter. Korean Air becomes the first airline in the world to operate both the 747-8 and 777 Freighters. 747-8I Korean Air becomes the first operator of both the passenger and freighter versions of the newest 747. Korean Air's newest 747-8 Intercontinental is configured with 368 seats and features new First Class Kosmo Suites with sliding doors and higher partitions to provide added privacy for passengers. The suites are equipped with updated in-flight entertainment systems, with large 24-inch high-definition monitors and new handheld touch remotes.

747-200F Korean Air's partnership with the Boeing 747 begins in 1970 with an order for the 747-200F. In service in 1973, Korean Air was the first 747 freighter operator in the Pacific. The 747-200F offered a capacity of 105 tons (95.3 tonnes). This marked the 200th order for the 747 family. 747-200 Korean Air places an order for 747s – Boeing's largest commercial-airplane agreement at the time with a non U.S. airline. The order for 10 firm and eight options, includes 747 freighters, 747-100s and 747-200s. 747SP The Boeing 747 Special Performance, or SP, is a modified version designed for ultra-long-range flights. The 747SP is 48 feet 4 inches (14.73 m) shorter than the 747-100. Korean Air used the 747SP from Seoul to the U.S. and Europe. 747-300 Korean Air introduces the 747-300, featuring an extended upper deck – more than 23 feet longer—and carries more passengers than the 747-200. The 747−300 introduced a new straight stairway to the upper deck, instead of a spiral staircase on earlier variants, which creates room above and below for more seats. 747-400 Korean Air begins operating the first of 27 747-400s. The newest of the 747 family, it offers increased range and fuel efficiency with a wingspan of 212 feet (64 meters), and 6-foot-high (1.8-meter-high) "winglets" on the wingtips. 747-400F The first 747-400 Freighter is delivered to Korean Air Cargo, the largest transpacific cargo carrier and the largest intra-Asian cargo carrier. The 747 400 Freighter is the largest commercial cargo transport in service at this time carrying 124 tons (113,000 kg) of cargo more than 4,400 nautical miles. By 2001, Korean Air has ordered 10 747-400 Freighters and eight 747-400 Extended Range Freighters. 747-8F The 747-8 Freighter enters Korean Air's fleet, with a range of 4,390 nautical miles (8,130 km) and a maximum structural payload capacity of 148 tons (134 tonnes), while offering an additional 4,221 cubic feet (120 m3) and 16 percent more revenue cargo volume than the 747-400 Freighter. Korean Air becomes the first airline in the world to operate both the 747-8 and 777 Freighters. 747-8I Korean Air becomes the first operator of both the passenger and freighter versions of the newest 747. Korean Air's newest 747-8 Intercontinental is configured with 368 seats and features new First Class Kosmo Suites with sliding doors and higher partitions to provide added privacy for passengers. The suites are equipped with updated in-flight entertainment systems, with large 24-inch high-definition monitors and new handheld touch remotes.

A Boeing 747-8i sits in a Lufthansa maintenance hangar at the Frankfurt Airport in June 2013. Alberto Riva Boeing scored a public relations hit on Wednesday, when the U.S. Air Force announced it had selected the 747-8 as the new presidential aircraft, continuing a tradition that has seen Boeing build the airplanes that transport the president of the United States since 1962. “Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, in coordination with the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall, has determined the Boeing 747-8 will serve as the next presidential aircraft, commonly known as Air Force One,” a USAF statement said. The 747-8 is the current version of the iconic 747, the hump-backed jet that inaugurated the era of twin-aisle airplanes in 1970 and has been an icon of air travel since. It would take the place as Air Force One of a previous 747 model, which the Air Force calls the VC-25A and has been flying presidents since 1990. But the 747, even in its latest, technologically advanced incarnation, is on its way out, with dwindling sales threatening the plane’s very existence. The order from the U.S. Air Force, while prestigious, will not save the Jumbo Jet from going out of production soon.   “If current trends continue, it probably means the end of the 747 by the end of the decade,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president at Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group, an aviation consultancy firm. The 747 is a perfectly fine airplane, with an excellent safety record and a 45-year history of commercial service, longer than any other widebody aircraft. But it has a crippling problem: It flies on four engines. Its current competitors do pretty much everything the 747 can, but on just two. The latest iteration of Boeing’s own large twinjet, the 777X, has been so successful that it has essentially killed its own sibling. It transports in a typical configuration about 400 passengers, only a little fewer than the 747-8, over the same maximum distance of 15,000 km (9,300 miles) -- and it burns a lot less fuel per each seat flown one mile, a key measure in the industry. Airlines have switched en masse to large twins, including the Airbus A350. “At the end of December, we still had 36 unfilled orders for 747-8s,” Boeing spokesman Doug Alder wrote in an email. According to an email to Congress cited by Bloomberg News,  Air Force Secretary Deborah James signed a document on Wednesday naming  Boeing as the “sole source contractor” to provide three 747-8s.