Last BBJ Rolls Out, Atlas Woes (Damn You Akbar!)

Line 1495 (RC009) for Abu Dhabi Presidential Flight, the last scheduled BBJ, rolled out yesterday. I don't really like BBJs. I mean, I like the occasionally interesting liveries, and really there isn't a 747 I don't love deeply, but what really bugs me about BBJs is that they're just kind of a waste of a perfectly good frame. Especially for a jumbo jet. A jumbo jet should be carrying large quantities of stuff to far away places day after day. A BBJ carries a couple people maybe once in a while. I doubt these BBJ's will ever even log 5,000 hours. For an example, lets look in on Lufthansa 747-8I line 1443 (RC022) D-ABYA. After about two years in service she has almost 10,000 hours in the air, and has carried over 400,000 people, not to mention tens of thousands of tons of cargo (roughly calculating) to destinations all over the world.

Now take line 1446 (RC004) HZ-HMS1. Cue trombone: wah wah wah wahhhhhhhhh...

Sitting around for over a year in Basel Switzerland with about 20 hours on the clock, waiting to eventually get some ostentatious interior, so that one day she may fly ten or less people to a ski vacation in the Alps two or three times a year. Or whatever. Anyways, I know it's good business for Boeing, but as 747 enthusiasts I'm sure you get my point.

In case you haven't heard, Atlas got dumped by British Airways. Specifically, Atlas subsidiary Global Supply Systems' contract with British Airways parent International Airlines Group will lapse in April of this year, and the three 747-8Fs that flew with the British Airways livery will be returned. IAG stated that they don't need the capacity anymore, what with all the belly space they have in their passenger airliners. However, they'll be leasing capacity to Hong Kong on Qatar 777Fs. Something about that sound familiar? Well yes, you're not mistaken; our wonderful friend Akbar Al Baker is at it again, insidiously undermining the 747-8F with every opportunity he can get. You might remember him from late 2012 when he tried to get Cargolux to dump their remaining 747-8F orders and use his Qatar 777Fs instead, before getting rejected and running home in tears. This time he seems to have landed a successful blow. Hope you're unhappy Akbar!

It's unclear whether Atlas has work lined up for these soon to be unemployed 747-8Fs, but they'll need to be repainted rather soon one way or the other. Atlas did recently land a new Hong Kong based contract, so perhaps these frames will help out there, although I was hoping Atlas was going to take up formerly rejected line 1437 (RC573) again instead. Doesn't look good for that to happen now.

Speculation About Lines 1435 and 1437

The fates for lines 1435 and 1437 are still unclear.

Line 1435 has finished certification testing and is sitting on the KPAE flight line. It's not apparent if she's getting refurbishment done yet. Boeing has her earmarked internally for Lufthansa once again, but it's uncertain if this is real or some clerical anomoly, as nothing has been officially announced. I'm reluctant to get my hopes up, because it would make me really happy to see line 1435 finally end up as D-ABYE and be a real passenger airliner with a long career. If she goes to waste as a VIP frame, it'll be disappointing. I know VIP 747s have to exist, but they really are poor utilization of a good frame. Another possibility is that Transaero might take her up as one of their four (soon to be firm) orders.

Line 1437 has flown quite a bit over the past few months. I'm guessing she was used in some of the certification testing. Her engine cowls were painted Atlas blue recently, and along with this news that Atlas has expanded its 747-8F wet leasing, starting in February 2014 with BST Logistics in Hong Kong, I'm wondering if Atlas will take back their unwanted frame.

Again, this is mostly speculation. We'll just have to wait and see.

Etihad 747-8F

Atlas's brand new frame, line 1476 (RC582) N855GT emerged from the paint hanger sporting her new Etihad Cargo livery. She had just been painted in Atlas's livery prior to her first flight, but that coat wasn't long for this world.

Line 1476 is still property of Atlas, but she's on a long term wet lease to Etihad for a round the world shipping route. Ethihad is also employing a couple 747-400Fs, and there are rumors that they might be in the market for more 747-8s. both passenger and freighter models. Here's the route N855GT will be taking:

May '13 Wrap Up

Four deliveries in May:

• Line 1438 (RC554) B-LJD for Cathay Pacific
• Line 1473 (RC508) LX-VCH for Cargolux
• Line 1476 (RC582) N855GT for Atlas
• Line 1475 (RC028) D-ABYI for Lufthansa

Matt Cawby posted a curious picture:

An apparent 747-8I in final assembly inside building 40-24. However, if you look at the chart, you can see the next ten frames in or scheduled for final assembly are all 747-8Fs. Something is fishy, but I don't know what the explanation is yet. Note 40-24 is supposed to be the 787 surge line, where the first 787-9 is starting its final assembly. Is this just line 1480 for Lufthansa back inside for some fixing?

It's... Alive!

Line 1421 is up in the air, right now, for a test flight. She's the last frame still undergoing a slow refurbishment out of Lackland Airport in San Antonio, Texas (she's been there for a long time now), and it looks like that's finally wrapping up. She'll probably head into paint or back to KPAE soon. JA11KZ (RC521) was the second 747-8 test frame, and is intended for Nippon Cargo.

In other minutia, here's the upcoming Etihad 747-8F route (not really their frame, they're just wet leasing one from Atlas). Quite a route!

Atlas Delivery #9, Order Complete

Line 1476 (RC582) N855GT for Atlas delivered yesterday and flew off today. This was the final frame of nine purchased by Atlas, completing their 747-8F order. Of course, originally their order was for twelve, but they rejected three, two of which have been reallocated.

Line 1432, Into the Blue

It's getting routine now, but yet another "old" new frame flies for the first time today. Line 1432 (RC572) HZ-AI4 for Saudi Arabian Cargo took her first flight this morning. A big thanks to Piotrek_ for the shots.

Here she was in long term storage without engines, and then refurbishment where she finally got some (pictures thanks to Matt Cawby).

That leaves one backlog frame that hasn't flown yet: line 1433 for Cathay. Soon, my pretty. Very soon.

Atlas's final frame, line 1476 (RC582) N855GT also flew for the first time on Saturday.

Boeing has lowered the build rate to 1.75 frames a month. This is not a surprise. They likely will lower it to 1.5 frames a month by the end of the year if orders don't pick up.

Welcome back, Number One

Line 1420 (RC501) LX-VCA is headed back from Lackland Airforce Base in San Antonio to Paine Field. This frame was the first 747-8 test aircraft. It recently went on a couple test flights so there was suspicion that it was getting close to being completed after undergoing a leisurely refurbishment in Texas. I'd guess that the next step will be a trip to the paint hanger before a hand off to Cargolux, but we'll see. After all this is Boeing and Cargolux we're talking about, and just look at all the drama currently going on in 787 land. Anyway it's always good to see progress on getting these older frames out the door.

Line 1456 for Lufthansa has gone on a B2 flight, and line 1462 finally left on a delivery flight to Atlas after some mysterious delay (see my previous post). Line 1430 for AirBridgeCargo should be delivering any day now. I'm also looking forward to seeing line 1434 coming out of the paint hanger, although on second thought she'll probably just be plain white, so that won't be too exciting. Oh well, you take what you can get in the slow moving world of 747-8 production.