First Boeing 747-8I delivered to Air China

Boeing has delivered the first 747-8 Intercontinental to Air China on Monday. The airplane is the first of seven 747-8 Intercontinentals Air China has on order.

Air China has been operating 747s since the 1980s and the aircraft type has played an important role in the development of Air China's international network.

Air China also has 15 787-9 Dreamliners on order. In the last three years the airline has received 20 777-300ERs.(Photo: Boeing)

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ANZ performs last Boeing 747 flight

Air New Zealand's will make its last passenger flight with a Boeing 747 this week. The airline operates still only one aircraft, ZK-NBV. It will depart for San Francisco on Wednesday and arrive in Auckland on Friday.

Last flight for Philippine Airlines 747

Philippine Airlines is phasing out the Boeing 747. On Monday, 1 September, its last Boeing 747-400 will arrive for the last time at Ninoy Aquino International Airport near Manila. The aircraft comes from San Francisco and will receive a water-cannon salute.

On the back of a 747 forever

Space Center Houston's Space Shuttle replica Independence today reached its final destination atop the original Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Boeing 747 (SCA-905). The aircraft and simulated spacecraft tandem will remain on display at NASA's Houston facility where many millions of tourists will be able to visit it in the future.

Cathay to phase out A340s and 747s

Hong Kong's all-widebody-operator Cathay Pacific is to phase out part of its fleet of Boeing 747-400s and all of its A340-300s in 2016 and 2017, as part of its fleet renewal plan. The airline announced that it intends to sell six of its B747-400Fs back to Boeing with four of them already parked. Four passenger 747-400s are also to be retired with two of them having been withdrawn from service this month.

Who is selling the most widebody jets?

Who is selling the most widebodies? Boeing or Airbus? The two aircraft manufacturers are, as often, quarelling about who sold the most aircraft. The fuss is about this year's sales total so far. Boeing is in a very good mood, because it sold 324 aircraft in July only. It has never had a month that it sold so many planes.

Saudia 747 swerves from runway in Manila

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Boeing 747 of Saudi Arabian Airlines has swerved off the runway on Tuesday at Manila Anternational Airport.

Museum restores first ever Jumbo Jet

The Boeing 747 test aircraft was the first ever widebody airliner in the air. The aircraft dubbed 'The City of Everett' (RA001) took off for the first time on February 9, 1969. It still exists. It is part of the collection of the Museum of Flight in Seattle, one of biggest air and space museums in the world. However, the aircraft, parked in the open air, is not in a good condition. But the museum is working hard to restore it.

What price a Boeing widebody jet?

Want to buy an aircraft? A widebody aircraft in particular? What do you think how much that costs? Boeing recently adapted its catalogue prices 3.1 per cent upwards, and that is almost twice the level of price "correction" last year.

You go for the biggest and most advanced? Boeing's most expensive jet is the 777-9X twin-engined airliner (see image). That costs 388.7 million dollar (290 million euro). If you prefer a four-engined 747-8I Intercontinental with more engines and more space, then you pay less, "only" 367.8 million dollar.

The Boeing 747 as Cruise Missile carrier?

After the Carter Administration's cancellation of the B-1A program due to fiscal concerns, the rise of air-launched cruise missiles and the possibility of developing a stealth bomber, Boeing put forward a low-risk, relatively cheap, cruise missile delivery vehicle alternative based on the mighty 747 Jumbo Jet. It was called the Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft, or CMCA.

It is an idea that still makes sense, according to the website Foxtrot Alpha. The idea was relatively simple: turn the premier long-range commercial hauler into an arsenal ship capable of carrying between 50 and 100 air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs).

The design was based on the 747-200C, a nose-loading cargo derivative of the Jumbo Jet, with nine rotary launchers mounted on tracks inside of the stripped-out cabin. Each rotary launcher would hold eight missiles, and they could be slid back into a launching position at the rear right side of the aircraft via the help of an overhead handling system.

In the end, the 747 CMCA was passed over, with the B-1 being revived by the Reagan Administration as well as the B-2 being procured semi-clandestinely under what would become the Advanced Tactical Bomber program. The B-52 fleet also received some capability upgrades as well.

But: the missile carrying Jumbo Jets could have been operated at much lower cost than the B-1 or B-52 force. The 747 as mobile rocket platform would not be carrying anywhere near the weight that it would with a full load of large air launched cruise missiles, so extra fuel can be carried to provide a longer flight duration and range.

The 747 is far from stealthy, but this wouldn't be a problem, according to Foxtrotalpha: "Who would doubt that in this modern era where stealth technology's tactical edge is eroding, and with the challenges of area denial and anti-access warfare looming in the Pacific, that a 747 CMCA would not be an incredibly powerful and relevant weapon system to possess? When a 747-800 based CMCA packing close to 100 long-range stealthy cruise missiles flies all the way across the Pacific Ocean without the need of tanker gas, and devastates 100 strategic enemy targets in a single volley with minimal risk to its operators lives, stealth really doesn't even matter at all does it?"

Foxtrotalpha asks the question: Why again isn't the USAF knocking on Boeing's door for this thing like yesterday?

It seems an intriguing idea. Read the complete story at Foxtrotalpha.

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