Air China 747-8I to New York Started Today

Today, Air China flew its inaugural 747-8I flight to JFK airport in New York City as flights CA981 and CA982. This is the first regularly scheduled international passenger service on a 747-8I not run by Lufthansa. Line 1507 RC067 B-2486 got to do the initial run. This 13 hour flight is scheduled daily, and soon to join in on the international action will be daily service to San Francisco, scheduled to start mid year. The article linked above also states Los Angeles starts in March, but I'm not sure if that's accurate or not. I hope it is!

B-2486 arriving at JFK. Photo by cv880m.

Also, line 1487 RC527 JA17KZ flew off to Tokyo today. This frame actually delivered contractually in December 2014. There are now no undelivered NCA frames lying around in storage. First time in a long time that can be said! There are, however, six still on order, none of which have been assigned slots in the firing order yet.

Boeing Makes 1500th 747 Delivery

Not really noticed by many is that with the delivery of line 1487 RC527 JA17KZ to Nippon Cargo Airlines, Boeing has made the 1500th delivery of a 747 into service. Note, this is not the 1500th 747 built, but the 1500th delivered to a customer. How do I figure?

• Last 747-400 was line 1419.
• Line 1 never delivered, but every other frame up to 1419 did, so that make 1418 deliveries.
• Line 1487 is the 82nd 747-8 delivered.
• 1418 + 82 = 1500, Quod Erat Demonstrandum

So congratulations are due. Congratulations!

JA17KZ will sit around KPAE in short term storage before she flies off to Tokyo in January. You might remember that line 1479 RC525 JA15KZ did the same thing at the end of last year.

Deliveries Remaining for 2014

With the delivery of line 1489 RC528 JA18KZ to Nippon Cargo (just over a year after roll out!), that brings the total delivery count for 2014 to a meager 14. Here's what to expect for the remainder of the year:

• Line 1485 JA16KZ should deliver to NCA in late November
• Line 1487 JA17KZ should deliver to NCA in late December
• Line 1507 B-2486 should deliver to Air China in November
• Line 1508 B-2487 should deliver to Air China in December

Which will bring the total delivery count for 2014 to 18 frames; the current manufacturing rate. It's possible a couple more might slip in before 2014 ends, but unlikely.

In other news, a very exciting one year birthday is fast approaching... who could it be? :O

It Came From the Desert, Part n

Line 1485 (RC526) JA16KZ for Nippon Cargo Airline returned from banishment to the desert today. It looks like NCA is making moves to accommodate their new frames and transfer over to a 747-8F majority fleet. Last year they returned 747-400 JA02KZ to its lessor (who just happened to sell it to Kalitta recently), and now they've unloaded JA01KZ and JA03KZ as well.

Those are some young 747-400s, and it looks like these aren't Boeing gifted trade in deals, being lease returns. I don't know the exact numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are stiff penalties for returning a new 747 after eight years (or even worse, selling it if they own it, as market value on 747-400s has plummeted). So it's obvious that the 747-8 really kicks a 747-400's ass enough to make these moves desirable. Line 1485 will probably deliver after line 1489, but before 1487. And remember, NCA still has six more frames on order which have yet to even be allocated in the production list.

First Flight - JA18KZ

Line 1489 (RC528) JA18KZ has been sitting around for a long time... Today she finally flew. She's probably destined for the desert, to be delivered late in the year.

First Flight for Line 1487

Nippon Cargo Airlines line 1487 (RC527) JA17KZ went up for a first flight today after six months since rolling out of the factory. Her older sister is stored in the desert awaiting delivery, and her younger sister is awaiting engines and paint. No word on when 1487 will deliver, but it should be sometime this year. Full take off roll after the break.

Missing 747-8s

Looking at Matt Cawby's latest flight line, there are two missing 747-8s at Paine Field. Silk Way line 1496 (RC642) 4K-SW882, and NCA line 1489 (RC528) JA18KZ. Line 1489 could either be in the paint hanger or stall 115 getting engines.

In March, we saw two deliveries. Lufthansa took line 1497 (RC033) D-ABYN, and Korean Air Cargo took line 1481 (RC548) HL7623. Line 1481 was a bit of an overdue delivery herself, having rolled out in May of 2013, only to sit around for six months.

Other than that, 747 activity at KPAE has been pretty slow. I suppose at 1.5 frames a month, it will most likely stay slow. The only really exciting thing right now is how eagerly Lufthansa is snapping up their frames. Talk over on airliners.net says the 747-8 is doing very well for them, performing better than advertised while making large improvements to the profitability of their routes.

The first 747-8I for Air China (line 1499!) should roll out really soon.

KPAE Backed Up With 747-8s, D-ABYL Delivers

Line 1492 (RC031) D-ABYL, #10 for Lufthansa delivered on Thursday. Lufthansa should take #11 in the next couple of weeks. Here's D-ABYL arriving in Frankfurt, Germany:

Deliveries need to pick up indeed, because a rather substantial backlog has built up over the past six months or so at Paine Field. It seems a lot of cargo operators are in no hurry to take their frames. There are twelve frames sitting at KPAE currently, and only two are older frames. Cargolux has two ready to start test flying. NCA has three frames in waiting (one has flown, one needs engines, one needs engines and paint). Their last delivered, line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ, hasn't flown since her delivery flight almost a month ago according to FlightRadar and FlightAware. They must be having some logistic or scheduling problems, because it shouldn't take a month to get a freighter into service. It'll be interesting to see how quickly Silk Way takes up the two frames currently on the flight line earmarked for them. One bit of good news is that line 1481 (RC548) HL7623 for Korean Air Cargo finally has engines and paint.

Hopefully, along with the slower production rate, this 747-8 backlog can clear out over the next two to three months.

First Flight for JA16KZ

This morning line 1485 (RC526) JA16KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines went up on a B1 flight. It looks like NCA is sticking to the plan they described over a year ago, taking three 747-8Fs in 2013, and three more in 2014. There was some uncertainty as to whether they meant calender year or fiscal year (ending in March or April). As for when they'll take the last six they have on order (they ordered a total of 14), things are still unclear.

http://kpae.blogspot.com/

End of the Desert Saga

Today line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines had a delivery flight in the midst of heavy fog at KPAE. This frame was actually delivered in December of 2013, but sat around for a month waiting to fly to Tokyo. This was the last of five frames that were stored long term in the desert at Pinal Airpark. Hopefully that won't happen again.

And a look back at the chart now vs what it was in May 2012:

And that was 2013

Boeing delivered 24 747-8s in 2013, down from 31 last year.

Line 1488 (RC549) HL7624 for Korean Air Cargo slipped out just ahead of the bell, flying off to Seoul on the 30th.

Photo thanks to moonm.

One delivered 747-8F, line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ for Nippon Cargo has yet to fly away.

What's to look forward to in 2014? Well, the new 1.5 frame per month assembly rate should slow things down, and I estimate only 16-20 deliveries for the year. The 1500th 747 should be rolled out and delivered to Lufthansa. Air China and Korean Airlines should be the second and third operators of the 747-8I this year. And hopefully, some more orders!

Here's to an auspicious new year for the 747.

Cathay takes one for the road

Cathay Pacific announced today an order for one 747-8F which will bring their total fleet to 14. I was hoping for more, but one is better than none. Cathay's VLA passenger plans are clearly 100% focused on the 777 unfortunately for the 747-8. In other Cathay updates, they took delivery of line 1486 (RC563) B-LJM on the 23rd.

Also delivered was AirBridgeCargo's final frame, line 1483 (RC605) VQ-BRJ. This, along with the paper delivery of line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines, marks the end of the desert storage saga, at east for now. All 747-8s that were parked in the desert over the last year or so have now been delivered.

It's looking like 23 deliveries for 2013, unless line 1488 (RC549) HL7624 for Korean can squeeze out the door before the end of the year. That's down from 31 last year, but still a healthy number.

Second 747-8 PIP Delivery

Today, Cathay Pacific took delivery of line 1484 (RC562) B-LJL, marking the second delivery of a 747-8 with PIP engines. Deja vu, two deliveries in two days. The third should happen in the next few days.

Line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ also paper delivered to NCA two days ago, and should fly away soon. On deck for 2013 still are lines 1483 (RC605) VQ-BRJ for ABC and 1488 (RC549) HL7624 Korean Air Cargo, but the latter is looking like a stretch with only one test flight so far.

You might notice the bottom of the chart has four new Intercontinentals added. Two of those are for Lufthansa, which gave me a sigh of relief. I was a bit paranoid they were going to cancel the last four orders and stick with 15 747-8Is, after they cancelled a few A380s earlier this year. Now it looks like they're going ahead with all 19 747-8Is, and possibly 20 if they end up taking line 1435 (RC021) D-ABYE back. I say add another five to fill up the alphabet (D-ABYZ?). Not including that extra letter in the German alphabet of course (D-ABYß?).

Looking Like 23 Deliveries For 2013

Blogger.com is blocked from China, as is a bunch of other stuff. I found a way to keep the chart updated though.

So I missed all the excitement of all three new Cathay frames having B1s over 4 days (and it was almost three consecutive). That would be lines 1483 (RC561) B-LJK, 1484 (RC562) B-LJL, and 1486 (RC563) B-LJM.

It looks like between these three and lines 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ (for NCA) and 1483 (RC605) VQ-BRJ (for ABC), Boeing is really pushing to get them out before the end of the year, which would give us 23 deliveries for 2013.

I scored three 747-400 rides this trip, and it's good to see so much 747 activity at the big airports. It's not what it used to be but there are still a lot of them taxiing around. I flew on RP-C7472 (line 1012 for Philippines from LAX to MNL), B-HUF (line 993 for Cathay from HKG to TPE), and B-18207 (line 1176 for China Airlines from TPE to LAX), with a bonus short hop in an A340 from MNL to HKG on the outgoing, which happens to be my favorite Airbus. It was scheduled for an A330, which is the most boring airliner in existence to me, so the swap was a great surprise. A340-300 RP-C3438 was fresh over from Iberia to Philippines Airlines, still with the old Iberia livery minus branding.

Saw a lot of 747-8s on this trip too. Can't wait to fly in one. They really are the best looking version of the best looking airliner ever made. Here are some pics:

RP-C7472 - don't those engines just give you warm fuzzies?

Upper Deck!

RP-C3438 still wearing old clothes.

Hong Kong - How many 747-8s can you count?

D-ABYF at Hong Kong.

B-HUF ready for a short hop to Taiwan.

There isn't always time for a great pic, but gotta get the tail number. Funny thing was the cute flight attendant listed it off from memory before I took this shot to verify. I'm in love.

Need For (Ground) Speed Baby!!

A Tribute to an Overdue Delivery #6: Line 1421

The final 747-8F test frame, and the second 747-8 built, line 1421 (RC521) JA11KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines delivered on Wednesday and flew away today. Rolled out in early 2010, it took almost four years for this frame to enter service. The backlog is quite small now, with just two old frames waiting to find customers and deliver.

Second in this picture (behind line 1420), back in 2009.

First paint job.

Flight testing at Boeing Field

Flight testing around KPAE

Returning from refurbishment in Texas.

Leaving Portland with NCA livery.

Tons more pictures here.

Rise From Your Grave(yard) Part Deux - Part 2

Ok, they're both back at KPAE now. This means there are now no 747-8s left in desert storage.

Line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ for NCA (pic by Matt Cawby)

 

Line 1482 (RC605) VQ-BRJ for AirBridgeCargo

Rise From Your Grave(yard) Part Deux

Matt Cawby tweeted that the last two frames in storage, line 1479 (RC525) JA15KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines and line 1482 (RC605) VQ-BRJ for AirBridgeCargo, will head back to KPAE today. NCA 747-8s are all over KPAE right now!

 Update: Didn't happen. But line 1437 (RC573) went for a flight with the FAA on board. And she has blue engines now. What could this mean? If this were a good blog I could tell you :(

Pic by Matt Cawby.

There was an airworthiness directive issued today for 747-8s about a missing bushing that could lead to problems.

RIP 747-400 line 927 JA8957 for ANA. She goes to her doom at Tupelo, the saddest place in the world for a 747 fan. The locals must have gotten a kick seeing this colorful bird come in for a landing.

Goin back to KPAE

Line 1469 (RC524) JA14KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines is returning to KPAE from a six month stint in the slammer at Pinal Airpark. Last I've heard, NCA is still planning on taking three more frames before the end of the year, and this move supports that plan. Inventory in storage at Pinal is now down to two frames, one for NCA, one for ABC. Three frames have now been returned from storage for pending deliveries, although two of them have been languishing around KPAE for a month now.

UPDATE: Line 1421 (RC521) JA11KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines is painted and is also returning to KPAE this evening.

Here's a sequence of line 1469's return:

And here's 1421's landing: