Боинг 740 400

It retains the 747 airframe, including the 747-300 stretched upper deck, with 6-foot (1.8 m) winglets. The 747-400 offers a choice of improved turbofans: the Pratt & Whitney PW4000, General Electric CF6-80C2 or Rolls-Royce RB211-524G/H. Its two-crew glass cockpit dispenses with the need for a flight engineer. It typically accommodates 416 passengers in a three-class layout over a 7,285 nmi (13,492 km; 8,383 mi) range with its 875,000-pound (397 t) maximum takeoff weight (MTOW).

Production and testing

Service entry and operations

Retirement and economic value

The original variant of the redesigned 747, the 747-400 debuted an increased wingspan, winglets, revised engines, and a glass cockpit which removed the need for a flight engineer. The type also featured the stretched upper deck (SUD) introduced with the 747-300. The passenger model formed the bulk of 747-400s sold, and 442 were built.

The 747-400F (Freighter) is an all freight version of the 747-400. While using the updated systems and wing design of the passenger versions, it features the original short upper deck found on the classic 747s to reduce weight. The 747-400F has a maximum takeoff weight of 875,000 pounds (397,000 kg) and a maximum payload of 274,100 pounds (124,000 kg). The -400F can be easily distinguished from the passenger -400 by its shorter upper-deck hump and lack of windows along the main deck.

The model’s first flight was on May 4, 1993, and entered service with Cargolux on November 17, 1993. Major customers included Atlas Air, Cargolux, China Airlines, Korean Air, Nippon Cargo Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

KLM was the last 747-400M operator. The Boeing 747-400M was initially planned to be retired by January 1, 2021, however the Boeing 747-400M was instead retired by March 27, 2020, as Air France-KLM announced in early March 2020 to retire all remaining passenger Boeing 747-400s of KLM (including all KLM Boeing 747-400M aircraft) immediately due to reduced air travel demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, although, due to a global shortage in air cargo capacity, three KLM 747-400Ms were temporarily reactivated after just a week to operate cargo-only flights to Asia.

747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter

Neither the 747-400BCF or the 747-400BDSF has a nose cargo door; freight can only be loaded through the side cargo door.

747 Large Cargo Freighter

• C-33: Proposed U.S. military transport version of the 747-400F, intended as an alternative to further purchases of the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III during the 1990s Non-Developmental Airlift Aircraft (NDAA) program. The C-33 cost less and had greater range, although it could not use austere runways or handle outsize military equipment and had a higher expected operating cost. The plan was canceled in favor of the purchase of more C-17s.^[61] In the early 2000s, An Air Power Australia analysis deck (an independent think tank not affiliated with the RAAF or Australia’s Department of Defence) looked at modifying the 747-400 platform for use as KC-33 tankers but ultimately abandoned it in favor of the 767-based tanker.^[62]
• YAL-1: «Airborne Laser» carrier based on a 747-400F for the United States Air Force. The aircraft was heavily modified to carry a nose-mounted turret and Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) equipment in order to destroy Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The aircraft was retired in 2012 after cancellation of the program funding.^[63]
• Cosmic Girl: A former Virgin Atlantic 747-400 named Cosmic Girl is used by Virgin Galactic as the air launch to orbit launcher for LauncherOne, an orbital rocket.^[64][65]
• Evergreen 747 Supertanker: Global SuperTankers has converted an ex-Japan Airlines 747-400BCF for use as an airborne firefighter, serving as the second generation 747 Supertanker. The converted water bomber carries 19,600 US gallons (74,190 L) of water or chemical fire retardant in eight pressurized tanks. The United States Forest Service was considering the use of this aircraft in 2017.^[66] Global SuperTanker received FAA certification September 12, 2016.^[67]

This list also includes carriers that used the aircraft temporarily, besides main operators.

Commercial

Non-commercial

• Government of Kuwait
• United States Air Force^[72]

• An ex-Qantas 747-400 formerly registered VH-OJA and named City of Canberra, the first 747-400 delivered to the airline, is displayed at the Historical Aviation Restoration Society museum at Illawarra Regional Airport south of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is the first 747-400 to be preserved, and also holds the record for the longest non-stop flight undertaken by a commercial aircraft, from London To Sydney in 20 hours, 9 minutes and 5 seconds, a record it has held since 1989.^[87]
• N661US, a former Delta Air Lines example, is on display at the Delta Flight Museum at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.^[16][88] The aircraft was the first -400 series built, serving as the prototype (then registered N401PW) prior to delivery to Northwest Airlines in December 1989. It is also the aircraft that was involved in Northwest Airlines Flight 85.^[16][17]
• In February 2019, a former KLM 747-400 registered PH-BFB and named City of Bangkok was transported on a giant trailer from Schiphol airport across fields, main roads and meadows to the Corendon Village Hotel in Badhoevedorp, having been repainted into Corendon‘s livery beforehand. To make this transport possible, the Motorway A9 was closed during the night from Friday February 8 until Saturday February 9.^[89] The aircraft was hauled a total of 12.5 kilometres over fields and roads to reach its new home at the hotel.^[90] Upon arrival at the hotel, the aircraft was installed in the grounds of the hotel complex.^[91]
• PK-LHF, last operated by Lion Air was converted for use as the Steak 21 restaurant in Summarecon Bekasi, Indonesia. The plane was originally operated by Singapore Airlines registered 9V-SMC.^[92][93]
• British Airways has preserved five of its 747-400’s following the fleet’s retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • G-BYGC, the first of British Airways’ three retrojets and decorated with the British Overseas Airways Corporation livery is on display at Bro Tathan Airfield, within the Bro Tathan Business Park at St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.^[94][95] G-BYGC arrived at Bro Tathan for preservation on 11 December 2020.^[96] By May 2023, however, the aircraft was in danger of being scrapped.^[97]
  • G-BNLY City of Swansea, the second of British Airways’ three retrojets and wearing the classic Landor Associates livery used from the 1980s to the late 1990s is on display at Dunsfold Aerodrome, joining 747-400 G-CIVW and 747-200 G-BDXJ as a filming location. The announcement of its preservation was made at the same time as that of G-BYGC, meaning that as of December 2020, all three of BA’s heritage-liveried 747s have been preserved.^[98][99] G-BNLY arrived at Dunsfold on 5 December 2020 after a ferry flight from Cardiff.^[100]
  • G-CIVB, the third of three 747-400 retrojets formerly operated by British Airways, is on display at Cotswold Airport in Kemble, Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom. The aircraft, which was the joint last of BA’s 747-400s to leave London Heathrow alongside G-CIVY, arrived at Kemble on 8 October 2020. G-CIVB is decorated with the Negus livery used by the airline during the 1970s and early 1980s, and has been modified for use as an events centre.^{[101][102][103][104]}
  • G-CIVW, an ex-British Airways 747-400, arrived at Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey in the United Kingdom on 22 October 2020 for preservation after a final ferry flight from Cardiff. The aircraft, which wears the Chattam Dockyard livery joins the aerodrome’s Boeing 747-200, G-BDXJ, for use as a filming location and trainer aircraft.^{[105][106][107]}
  • The cockpit and upper deck sections of two ex-British Airways 747-400s, G-CIVM and G-BYGG, have been combined for use as the ‘744 Experience’, a combined flight simulator and upper deck experience in Nantwich, Cheshire, England.^[108][109]
• HS-STA, A former Orient Thai Boeing 747-400 was converted into a cafe and restaurant in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district.^[110] The airplane originally belonged to United Airlines, registered N187UA.^[111]
• HS-STB, A former Orient Thai Boeing 747-400 has a fuselage without wing preserved at Flight of Happiness restaurant in Guanyin District, Taoyuan, Taiwan ^[112]
• HS-TGR Siriwatthana, A former Thai Airways 747-400 was purchased by a Thai businessman named Somchai Phukieow in July 2018 and had it shipped to his home in Chai Nat Province, Thailand^[113] The aircraft had its engines removed and the titles painted over, but is otherwise unchanged from its time in active service.
• HS-TGT Watthanothai, A former Thai Airways 747-400, has been placed on static display at Chic Chic Market in Nong Khai, Thailand, alongside ex-Las Vegas Sands Lockheed L-1011 TriStar N388LS.^[114]
• The cockpit and upper deck section of G-BYGA, an ex-British Airways airframe is at Manchester City Airport, where it is to be used as a flight simulator and events and conference space.^[115]

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Dorr, Robert F. (2002). Airliner Tech Series: Boeing 747-400. North Branch, MN: Specialty Press Publishers. ISBN 1-58007-055-8.
• Norris, Guy; Wagner, Mark (1999). «747: Advancing the Legend». Modern Boeing Jetliners. Osceola, Wisconsin: Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-0717-2.

• 747-400 page on Boeing.com
• 747-400 page on Airliners.net
• Boeing 747 cargo specifications
• «Passenger version» . Boeing. 2010.
• «Freighter version» . Boeing. 2010.