EVERETT (dpa-AFX) - It revolutionized aviation and, with its distinctive hump, is still considered an attraction in the sky: the Boeing 747 - once the world's largest passenger aircraft, celebrated as the "Queen of the Skies". But after more than 50 years, the U.S. manufacturer is finally phasing out the legendary jumbo jet. The last newly built 747 was handed over to the airline Atlas Air at a farewell ceremony at the Boeing plant in Everett near Seattle on Tuesday (local time). Boeing had already announced in 2020 that it would end 747 production. This did not come as a surprise: the company had long been considering discontinuing the classic aircraft due to a lack of demand. Airlines now prefer smaller and more fuel-efficient aircraft.

The giant airliner made its maiden flight in 1969, and about a year later the first aircraft went into service with the then U.S. airline Pan Am. According to Boeing, the first 747 was built in less than 28 months and was the work of a total of more than 50,000 employees, who have since been called the "Incredibles". The jumbo became a huge success - despite a glitchy Pan Am premiere in January 1970. With its unique humpback silhouette, the 747, which was double-decker in the front section, fascinated the masses like no other jet and made longer air travel affordable for the general public.

In all, Boeing built 1574 747 jumbo jets for more than 100 customers in about 55 years. One of the most important of these was Lufthansa, whose chief executive Carsten Spohr gave a speech at the farewell ceremony. However, the 747 had long been regarded as a discontinued model; most recently, it was only built as a cargo version. This is also the case with the last aircraft, which has now been handed over to Atlas Air. With the latest passenger version, the 747-8, which has a longer upper deck, new wings and more fuel-efficient engines and can seat more than 600 people, Boeing was only able to score points with a few airlines. Most long-haul airlines now rely on models that are not quite as large, such as Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner" and 777, and the Airbus A350.

Giant aircraft like Boeing's 747 with its four engines are now considered too expensive to operate by many airlines. What's more, they can only be used to capacity on high-demand routes. The same problem existed with the double-decker Airbus A380, which replaced Boeing's jumbo after the turn of the millennium as the world's largest passenger aircraft with space for up to 853 passengers. In early 2019, Airbus executives decided to end production of the jet in 2021 due to lack of demand - just some 14 years after its first scheduled flight. However, the A380, mothballed in the Corona pandemic, made a surprise comeback last year.

That Boeing even embarked on the 747 Hercules project in the 1960s was thanks to a handshake deal between then-corporate chief William Allen and his Pan Am counterpart Juan Trippe. "If you buy it, I'll build it," Allen is said to have told Trippe, according to legend. Boeing had actually applied for a U.S. military contract with the jumbo - but was beaten out by rival Lockheed. The special design with the cockpit on the upper floor, which gave the 747 its cult character, was also due to the misconception that smaller supersonic aircraft like the Concorde would shape passenger aviation. The 747 was therefore designed to function as a cargo plane as well.

Over the next five decades, Boeing's jumbo served not only as a passenger and cargo jet - a special version carried the Space Shuttle for NASA, and another is Air Force One, developed under contract to the Pentagon. This flying high-tech fortress for U.S. presidents is an important prestige project for Boeing, but has caused a lot of trouble in recent years. Boeing had agreed to build the new Air Force One in 2018 under former CEO Dennis Muilenburg with then-President Donald Trump, but costs got out of hand. In April 2022, Muilenburg's successor Dave Calhoun acknowledged that the deal resulted in billions of dollars in charges and that Boeing "probably" should not have entered into it.

Boeing executive Kim Smith, speaking to U.S. broadcaster CNBC in Everett, called the final delivery of the legendary Jumbo "very surreal." "For the first time in more than 50 years, we won't have a 747 in this factory." The end of production will not see the aircraft type disappear from the skies, but even there, the 747 is becoming rarer. U.S. airlines United and Delta took them out of their fleets years ago. After the Corona pandemic paralyzed international air traffic in 2020, Qantas and British Airways did the same. A revival due to the recovery from the Corona crisis and the resulting aircraft shortage - as experienced by the Airbus A380 - was only limited for the 747 in the cargo sector./hbr/DP/zb