Despite this decline, a handful of airlines continue to operate passenger flights with the type. Korean Air has five passenger-configured 747-8s; Air China operates seven combined examples of both the -8 and earlier -400 models; Rossiya maintains two operational units (all -400s); Lufthansa has a fleet that includes both -400s and -8s totaling twenty-seven aircraft. Lufthansa’s continued use is partly due to delays in receiving replacement Boeing 777X jets.
Lufthansa mainly deploys its remaining jumbos on routes from Frankfurt to Bengaluru, Boston, New York JFK, Singapore, Toronto, and Vancouver—routes that are shorter than the jet’s maximum range but still benefit from its capacity.
While fewer are seen carrying passengers today, the Boeing 747-8 remains significant as a freighter. The cargo sector continues to rely on large hubs for sorting shipments—a process well-suited for big aircraft like the freighter version of the 747-8. Unlike competitors such as Airbus’s A340 or A380—which did not gain traction as freighters—the dedicated cargo variant of the jumbo jet features a unique nose door that allows loading wider pallets than most other airliners can accommodate.
This nose-loading capability is exclusive to purpose-built freighters rather than converted passenger planes. The final new-build example rolled out from Boeing’s Everett factory in December 2022 before being delivered to Atlas Air early in 2023 with registration N863GT. It was marked by a decal honoring Joe Sutter—the original designer—and commemorated by members of “the Incredibles,” Boeing’s team behind the prototype.
Kim Smith, vice president and general manager for Boeing's 747 and 767 programs said: "for more than half a century, tens of thousands of dedicated Boeing employees have designed and built this magnificent airplane that has truly changed the world. We are proud that this plane will continue to fly across the globe for years to come."
Atlas Air now operates sixty-one jumbo freighters—including all four final production units—and also flies specialized versions such as the Dreamlifter used for transporting oversized parts.
The future may see further use of the type as an executive transport platform: Qatar recently transferred a civilian-specification model intended for conversion into an updated U.S. presidential transport (Air Force One). However, adapting it is expected to cost $400 million—an estimate questioned by Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney who told CNN: "you can’t retrofit a plane that is built for another purpose for Air Force One and expect it to be a free plane. It’s clear that this is going to be a drain on the Air Force’s budget." The current VC-25A presidential jets date back to flights beginning in 1987; their replacements (VC-25B) based on new-build -8 airframes have faced significant delays and budget overruns with delivery now expected no sooner than 2029.
The technical specifications highlight why it remained popular among certain operators: seating up to four hundred sixty-seven passengers or offering over six thousand cubic feet (180 cubic meters) of cargo space; wingspan exceeds two hundred twenty-four feet; maximum takeoff weight approaches one million pounds; cruising speed reaches Mach .855; range extends nearly eight thousand nautical miles powered by four GEnx engines each producing over sixty-six thousand pounds thrust.
As production ended—with UPS Airlines having received twenty-eight new freighters followed by Cargolux, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific—Lufthansa remained top customer among passenger operators with nineteen delivered units while Korean Air took ten plus seven freighters.
The Everett plant in Washington served as home base throughout production history which began with Pan American World Airways’ first delivery on January 22nd 1970 until Atlas Air received number one-thousand-five-hundred-seventy-three on January 31st 2023.
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