Twilight of KLM Boeing 747-400

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) is accelerating their retirement of Boeing 747-400 and had halved their jumbo fleet this month. In early February, KLM has scrapped PH-BFC 'Calgary', and starting from April, the airline will use Boeing 777-200 aircraft on the Amsterdam-Chicago route which is currently operated by a Boeing 747COMBI.

Photo from airliners.net

According to the original plan, the Boeing 747s are expected to leave the fleet by 2021. KLM said goodbye to its first 747 only two years ago, and just before that, the KLM fleet consisted of 22 Boeing 747 aircraft; Seven had been configured as a passenger-only aircraft with the rest as COMBIs, the name that Boeing gave, to aircraft with cargo and passenger space. In January 2016, two Queens went out of the skies, to be replaced by more efficient aircraft. Originally they would scrap one more 747 this year, and retire another one in 2019. As 2 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 5 Boeing 787-10s will be delivered by 2020 to replace the 5 747-400s in 2020 and the remaining 4 in 2021, the carrier is becoming a more efficient and profitable airline. Though KLM says that they are aiming to phase out all 747 aircraft by 2021, it seems like the carrier is now aiming to phase out all of their 747s by 2020. KLM has contracted AELS for the disassembly and disposal of KLM’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft. AELS has also been asked to handle retired A340s from SWISS international airlines and Air France.

The Boeing 747, also known as the Jumbo Jet or Queen of the skies, is an amazing aircraft with lots to offer, including an upper deck, beautiful design, and long fuselage. The aircraft had its first flight in 1969. However, with newer, more efficient jets, airlines are phasing out their jumbos to make way for new twin-engine jetliners. KLM is one of the last operators of the type but has planned to all of them out by 2021. The 747 was known to fly the route from Amsterdam to St. Marteen which was a popular site for tourists. KLM was one of the only carriers to fly that route from Europe and was the only carrier to use 747s on the short runway to the popular tourist destination of St. Marteen. KLM has enjoyed having the 747 in its fleet and even wrote an article about it, called '4 reasons to fly the 747'. The aircraft has enjoyed a successful history but sadly the days for us to spot this beauty is counting down. KLM now still flies their Boeing 747-400 to mostly America with more than 5 destinations served with the 747 in February 2018. Other destinations include Nairobi in Kenya and 2 Asian cities.