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.

1500th 747 Begins Final Assembly

With the scheduled rollout of line 1496 (RC642) 4K-SW882 (tail number not confirmed) for Silk Way Airlines tonight, line 1500 (RC035) D-ABYP for Lufthansa should being final assembly imminently.

Of course this is just a stepping stone to line 3000.

Line 1496. Photo by Matt Cawby. I want that banner.

D-ABYM First Flight, Seahawks First Superbowl Win

Line 1494 (RC032) D-ABYM for Lufthansa went up on a first flight today. Also, line 1492 (RC031) D-ABYL for Lufthansa should deliver really soon.

And the Seattle Seahawks won their first Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos. Yup, I'm calling it. It must have been due to that lucky 747-8F line 1437 (RC573). Congratulations to all the fans on the 747 assembly line.

Somebody buy that lucky frame!

Seattle Seahawks to Start Air Freight Services

Due to flagging interest in the football team, the Seattle Seahawks are diversifying their business, purchasing one 747-8F initially. Line 1437 (RC573) finally gets to serve some commercial purpose!

Photo source

In all seriousness, I don't think the Seahawks have much of a chance, but I'm no Denver fan so best of luck.

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.

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