The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the largest variant of the 747.
After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to Airbus’s proposed Airbus A3XX.
The stretched 747 Advanced was launched as the 747-8 on November 14, 2005, for a market forecast of 300 aircraft.
The first 747-8F Freighter performed its maiden flight on February 8, 2010, and the passenger 747-8I Intercontinental followed suit on March 20, 2011.
The cargo version was first delivered in October 2011 and the airliner began commercial service in June 2012.
Its fuselage is stretched by 18ft (5.6 m) to 250ft (76.3 m), making it the longest airliner until the 777X-9 which first flew in 2020.
While keeping its basic structure and sweep, the wing is thicker and deeper, holding more fuel, and wider with raked wingtips.
Powered by the more efficient General Electric GEnx turbofan of the 787 Dreamliner, its maximum take-off weight (MTOW) grew to 975,000lb (442 t), the heaviest Boeing airliner.
The Freighter version has a shorter upper deck and can haul 137t (302,000lb) over 4,120 nmi (7,630km).
The airliner version can carry 467 passengers in a typical three-class configuration over 7,790 nmi (14,430km).
As of October2021, it has 155 firm orders: 107 freighters and 48 passenger airliners, of which 147 have been delivered..
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General
Aircraft performance
Weight & dimensions
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The Boeing 747-8 is the largest and final variant of the 747 “Jumbo jet” family of commercial airliners first introduced in 1979 with Pan American Airlines. It was the longest serial production commercial airplane before the launch of the Boeing 777-9 and one of the largest airplanes ever made.
The Boeing 747-8 shares a similar outline with the original 747 airplanes with the prominent hump feature. However, it features modern engines and advanced cockpit technology resulting in a more efficient, eco friendly, and less noisy aircraft. Significant changes to the Boeing 747-8 include stretching the fuselage by 19 meters (62.3 feet) to achieve a 16% extra payload space, including thick, broader, and deeper wings allowing the airplane to hold extra 993.4 gallons (4,516 liters) of Jet-A fuel for improved range.
The Boeing 747-8 parts are interchangeable with Boeing 747-400. It also utilizes similar engines and avionics to the Boeing 787, from where it derived its “8” variant designation.
The 747-8 was one of the largest aircraft ever made.
