Boeing 747-400ER

The Boeing 747-400ER was the final passenger development of the 747-400. It kept the standard aircraft's dimensions and unmistakable shape, but used a strengthened airframe, a higher maximum takeoff weight and an optional extra fuel tank to make demanding long-haul routes more practical. Its maximum takeoff weight of 910,000 lb gave it the industry nickname "910k".

Only six passenger 747-400ERs were built, all for Qantas. That makes it one of the rarest production 747 variants and a particularly important chapter in the history of long-range flights across the Pacific.

The short version: compared with the standard 747-400, the -400ER could fly about 435 nautical miles (805 km) farther or carry 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) more payload. The operator chose how to use the extra takeoff weight on each mission. All six aircraft carried a single auxiliary body fuel tank - the two-tank option was certificated, provisioned for at the factory, and never taken up by anyone.

On this page

• Specifications
• From 747-400X to 747-400ER
• What changed from the 747-400
• Fuel capacity and the body tanks
• The two-tank option nobody took
• Range and payload
• Why Qantas needed the 747-400ER
• Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth
• The six Qantas aircraft
• Retirement and the final flight
• The last missions
• 747-400ER versus 747-400ERF
• Frequently asked questions

Boeing 747-400ER specifications

The figures below use Boeing's current airport-planning data where available. Range and operating-empty-weight figures should always be treated as planning values: an airline's seating, cargo, reserves, weather and operating procedures change the result of any real flight.

Specification	Boeing 747-400ER passenger aircraft
Flight crew	2 pilots
Typical passenger capacity	416 in Boeing's three-class planning layout
Typical two-class capacity	500 in Boeing's current planning layout
Length	231 ft 10 in (70.66 m)
Wingspan	211 ft 5 in (64.44 m)
Tail height	63 ft 8 in (19.4 m)
Maximum design taxi weight	913,000 lb (414,129 kg)
Maximum design takeoff weight	910,000 lb (412,769 kg)
Maximum design landing weight	652,000 lb (295,742 kg)
Maximum design zero-fuel weight	555,000 lb (251,743 kg)
Maximum structural payload	148,100 lb (67,177 kg)
Typical planning cruise	Mach 0.85
Published maximum range	Up to 7,580 nmi (14,205 km), mission-dependent
Qantas engines	4 × General Electric CF6-80C2B5F turbofans
Usable fuel as actually built	60,495 US gal (228,990 L) - one body tank, all six aircraft
Usable fuel, two-tank option	63,240 US gal (239,389 L) - certificated, provision built in, never taken up
Maximum belly cargo volume	5,599 cu ft (158.6 m³), reduced from 6,025 cu ft on the -400
Passenger aircraft built	6

The headline range is not a promise that every 747-400ER could carry every payload for 7,580 nautical miles. Aircraft range is a curve, not a single number. Boeing's own charts plot range against operating weight, payload, takeoff weight and engine type at a stated cruise condition.

From 747-400X to 747-400ER

Boeing formally launched the aircraft on 28 November 2000, after Qantas ordered six. During development it had been known as the 747-400X and then the Longer-Range 747-400. The final commercial name, 747-400ER, made its purpose clearer: this was an extended-range member of the existing -400 family, not a new-size 747.

The first aircraft rolled out at Everett on 17 June 2002 and flew for the first time on 31 July 2002. Boeing used two aircraft in a certification programme planned around roughly 230 flight-test hours and 380 ground-test hours.

Qantas accepted the first delivered aircraft on 30 October 2002. It entered commercial service on 8 November 2002 as QF11 from Sydney to Los Angeles. Deliveries of all six were complete by July 2003.

What changed from the standard 747-400

The -400ER was not stretched, and its wing planform did not change. Its main differences were beneath the skin and inside the aircraft.

Because 910,000 lb was such a distinctive number, the type picked up an industry nickname: the "910k", after its maximum takeoff weight in thousands of pounds. It is a small thing, but it is how the variant was usually referred to in production and airline circles.

Higher weights and stronger structure

Maximum design takeoff weight rose from the 747-400 baseline of 875,000 lb (396,893 kg) to 910,000 lb (412,769 kg). To carry that extra weight, Boeing strengthened parts of the fuselage, wing and landing gear. The aircraft also received larger radial tyres.

That 35,000 lb increase did not automatically mean the aircraft carried 35,000 lb more payload. Boeing raised takeoff weight while the maximum zero-fuel weight remained a separate structural limit. On a long mission, much of the extra allowance was used for fuel; on a shorter mission, some could support additional traffic load.

Engine options

Boeing offered three engine choices for the -400ER, each rated higher than the standard 747-400 equivalent:

Manufacturer	Model	Rated takeoff thrust
General Electric	CF6-80C2B5F	62,100 lb
Pratt & Whitney	PW4062	63,300 lb
Rolls-Royce	RB211-524H8-T	59,500 lb

For comparison, the standard 747-400's published options were the CF6-80C2B1F at 57,900 lb, the PW4056 at 56,750 lb and the RB211-524G2 at 58,000 lb - so the -400ER offered roughly 3,000 - 4,500 lb more thrust per engine depending on the choice.

Qantas took all six aircraft with General Electric CF6-80C2B5F engines, which is why GE is the only powerplant you will see in photographs of the type. The GE CF6 programme page covers the engine family in detail.

Updated flight deck and cabin

Boeing fitted new liquid-crystal flight-deck displays and worked to reduce flight-deck noise. The passenger cabin used the Boeing Signature Interior, an evolution of the interior architecture introduced on the 777, with redesigned bins, ceiling panels and lighting. The bins used a pivot design that gave roughly 30% more roll-aboard bag space than the standard 747-400, and the upper deck gained twice the stowage capacity.

Qantas fitted A380-style seating and in-flight entertainment to its 747-400s during the 2010s, starting with nine airframes completed at Melbourne (Avalon) from late 2011. The -400ERs were part of that programme, which is why later photographs of the type show a 58 business / 40 premium economy / 270 economy layout rather than the four-class arrangement the aircraft originally carried. The Qantas seat maps page documents that late-career layout.

A choice between range and payload

The commercial proposition was deliberately simple: use the added takeoff weight to fly approximately 435 nmi (805 km) farther, or carry approximately 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) more payload. A real flight could use a combination of the two.

Feature	Standard 747-400	747-400ER
External dimensions	231 ft 10 in long; 211 ft 5 in span	Identical
Comparison MTOW	875,000 lb	910,000 lb
Usable fuel with GE engines	57,065 US gal	60,495 US gal as built
Body fuel tanks	None	One as built; two certificated, never taken up
Maximum belly cargo	6,025 cu ft	5,599 cu ft
Advertised capability gain	Baseline	+435 nmi range or +15,000 lb payload
Typical Boeing three-class layout	416 seats	416 seats
Passenger production	Main -400 variant	6 aircraft, all for Qantas

Fuel capacity and the body tanks

The defining equipment was a set of optional auxiliary body fuel tanks installed in the forward lower cargo compartment. One tank could be fitted, or two for maximum fuel capacity. The current Boeing airport-planning manual lists each tank at 3,060 US gallons (11,582 L).

Every 747-400ER that ever flew had only one

This is the most commonly repeated error about the type, and it is worth stating plainly: although Boeing certified the -400ER for two body tanks, Qantas ordered only the single-tank version, and no 747-400ER was ever delivered with two. The two-tank figure of 63,240 US gallons appears constantly online, including in the aircraft's own published specification, but it describes an airframe that never existed.

Configuration	Usable fuel	Status
Standard 747-400, GE engines	57,065 US gal	Baseline
747-400ER with one body tank	60,495 US gal (228,990 L)	All six Qantas aircraft
747-400ER with two body tanks	63,240 US gal (239,389 L)	Certificated option, never built

So the honest answer to "how much fuel could a 747-400ER carry?" is 60,495 US gallons. Treat the 63,240-gallon figure as a design envelope rather than a fact about any individual aircraft.

The two-tank option nobody took

The second tank is the most interesting thing about the -400ER that never happened, and it is worth treating as a real design decision rather than a footnote.

It was a designed-in option, not an afterthought. Boeing's programme documentation is explicit that the aircraft was built with the second position in mind: structural and systems provisions for a second fuel cell were provided at the factory, and the cell could be ordered as an option or installed later. Crucially, the one-cell and two-cell installations present to the crew as a single auxiliary tank - the fuel management system did not change, and the handling characteristics did not change. There was also a switch added to the fuel management area of the pilot's overhead panel so the crew could drive the transfer valves manually, though Boeing noted that because the tank integrated seamlessly with the existing system, the flight crew's workload did not increase.

In other words, a -400ER could have been converted to two tanks. The option was real, certificated and supported by the spares and tooling. Nobody used it.

Why the arithmetic was already spoken for. The obvious objection is that Qantas might simply have wanted more range. The published weights suggest it could not have had both. Doing the arithmetic on Boeing's own figures:

Quantity	Weight
Body tank fuel, one tank (3,060 US gal at ~6.7 lb/gal)	~20,500 lb
Body tank fuel, two tanks	~41,000 lb
Maximum takeoff weight increase over the 747-400	35,000 lb

Two full body tanks hold roughly 6,000 lb more fuel than the entire maximum takeoff weight increase the variant was granted - and that is before counting the dry weight of the second tank's own structure. On a two-tank aircraft, the extra 20,500 lb of fuel is not free range bought with the higher MTOW limit; it is weight that has to come out of payload, or out of the fuel load itself.

That matters because Boeing's headline claim for the -400ER was a straight trade: +435 nmi of range or +15,000 lb of payload. Those are alternatives, not simultaneous benefits. The single-tank configuration is the one that makes the payload half of that claim meaningful, because one tank's ~20,500 lb of fuel sits comfortably inside the 35,000 lb allowance with room left over for traffic load. Add a second tank and the same 910,000 lb limit has to absorb 41,000 lb of fuel instead - which is the clearest technical reason the option existed on the drawing board and stayed empty in practice.

(This is arithmetic on published capacities, not a Boeing statement. It assumes both tanks filled to the certificated maximum, uses a nominal Jet A-1 density, and ignores tank dry weight - all of which make the real figure worse, not better. MTOW is a ceiling rather than a target, so an operator could always carry less fuel. But the direction of the trade is not in doubt.)

And the second tank was not free in the hold either. It occupied the same prime real estate - the forward lower cargo compartment, where LD-1 containers normally sit. Two tanks would have cost more belly capacity on top of the weight penalty, and belly freight is precisely the revenue Qantas was trying to protect on trans-Pacific runs.

So the two-tank 747-400ER is a genuine "what if". Boeing built the provisions, wrote the certification, and offered the conversion. A single customer looked at it and declined. Of the two configurations on the certificate, the one that was harder to sell on paper turned out to be the one that worked.

The tank itself

Marshall Aerospace designed and manufactured the lightweight tank system. Marshall's modern account describes its use of bonded, dual-wall aluminium honeycomb construction for auxiliary tanks: the aim is high strength with a competitive ratio of tank weight to fuel volume. That matters because every kilogram of tank structure displaces payload before any fuel is added. Marshall states that its tank designs carry roughly 15% more fuel volume than a conventional bladder tank in the same space, and that it ships them in sets of six - which is precisely the size of the Qantas order.

The tanks had a double wall, an integrated venting system, and their own control logic. Fuel in the body bought range, but the tanks occupied space in the forward lower hold. Airlines therefore gained mission flexibility rather than free capacity: the most useful arrangement depended on route length, cargo demand and required reserves.

How the fuel was actually managed

The auxiliary tank was not simply plumbed into the wing. Boeing's programme documentation describes a deliberate burn sequence:

• Fuel is used first from the centre wing tank, not from the body tank.
• As the flight progresses, fuel is transferred from the auxiliary tank into the centre tank in flight.
• That transfer is driven by cabin air pressure as the primary source, with an electrically powered pump providing the secondary source at low altitude, on the ground, and during fuel jettison.
• A modified Fuel System Management Card sequenced the transfer and coordinated it with the horizontal stabiliser tank.
• A switch in the fuel management area of the pilot's overhead panel lets the crew drive the auxiliary tank transfer valves manually.

The practical reason is structural. The centre wing tank sits between the wing root boxes, where load-relief valves manage fuel weight exactly as the wing flexes in flight. Keeping the burn and the transfer logic centred on that tank meant the body tank acted as a reserve that was emptied into the structurally protected centre section early in the flight, rather than as a working fuel source that had to be managed throughout cruise.

What the tank cost the airframe

Fitting a large pressure vessel inside the cargo hold required the surrounding structure to be redesigned, not merely strengthened. According to Boeing's own account of the programme:

• The body structure in the tank zone was completely redesigned, with existing sheet frames replaced by single-piece machined frames.
• Higher-strength material was used in the chords of the main-deck floor beams so they could survive a rapid decompression.
• A titanium shield was fitted on the forward body and wing ribs to reduce the chance of tank damage from a burst engine rotor.
• The tank was suspended on a six-point system with titanium fittings, isolated from normal airframe deflection, hanging 5 in (127 mm) above the cargo floor and 4 in (102 mm) below the cargo ceiling.
• A structural cargo barrier and liners separated the tank from the cargo compartment, and its immediate surroundings were designed to keep fuel within temperature limits in the rare event of a cargo fire.
• The cells could be rolled in and out on the cargo system rollers using a purpose-built tool, and were accessible for line-replaceable-unit servicing without removing them from the aircraft.

Two service relocations followed directly from the tank. The potable water system moved to the aft end of the aft cargo compartment, becoming a two-pump design instead of the pressurised single-pump arrangement on the standard 747-400, and components of the passenger oxygen system were relocated because the tank blocked access to their normal positions. The cabin also gained an electrically activated passenger oxygen system and an in-flight entertainment interface backbone, both developed first for the 777.

The forward hold shrank as a direct result. Maximum belly cargo volume fell from 6,025 cu ft on the standard 747-400 to 5,599 cu ft with 28 LD-1 containers and bulk freight, or 5,332 cu ft with five pallets, 14 LD-1 containers and bulk freight.

Why published fuel figures differ

Readers will find several 747-400ER fuel capacities online. Early Boeing material quoted as much as 63,705 - 63,765 US gallons, while Boeing's December 2024 airport-planning manual lists 63,240 US gallons for GE-powered aircraft and 63,460 US gallons for Pratt & Whitney or Rolls-Royce installations with two tanks. Per-tank capacity is itself quoted variously as 3,060, 3,210 and 3,240 US gallons depending on whether the source is a planning manual, a programme review or a secondary reference.

Those numbers come from documents prepared at different times and on different configuration bases. This page uses the current Boeing planning-manual figures for its main specification table, and flags the two-tank figures as unrealised. For flight planning or maintenance, the approved manuals for the individual aircraft always take precedence.

Range and payload explained

The -400ER's often-quoted maximum range is 7,580 nautical miles (14,205 km). It is best understood as a maximum planning figure under defined assumptions, not as a route radius available with any passenger and cargo load.

Several variables move the result:

• Payload: passengers, bags and cargo consume weight that might otherwise be fuel.
• Cabin configuration: seats, galleys, crew-rest modules and entertainment systems change operating empty weight.
• Wind and temperature: westbound Pacific sectors can face strong headwinds, while hot-weather departures may be performance-limited.
• Engine installation: Boeing published separate payload-range charts for GE, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce powerplants.
• Operational reserves: diversion fuel, holding fuel and airline policy all reduce usable trip range.

This is why Boeing's launch claim - 805 km farther or 6,800 kg more payload - is more informative than a single maximum-range number. It describes the extra capability relative to the standard aircraft without pretending every flight has the same loading problem.

The range figures do not agree

Expect to see several different maximum ranges published for the -400ER, and none of them is wrong in the way a typo is wrong:

Published maximum range	Source basis
7,260 nmi	Standard 747-400, for comparison
7,580 nmi (14,205 km)	Boeing planning figure, widely quoted
7,670 nmi	Boeing 747-400 series specification data
7,760 nmi	A further Boeing figure quoted to press at the QF7 launch

The same variation affects the claimed increment over the standard aircraft. Depending on the document, the -400ER is described as gaining 410 nmi, 435 nmi or 525 nmi over the -400. The differences come from cruise Mach number, reserve assumptions, step-climb rules and whether the figure is a ferry-range or a payload-range intercept - not from any disagreement about the aircraft.

Real Qantas operations sat well below all of these. On the Sydney - Dallas service the sector was about 7,454 nmi with a normal passenger and belly-cargo load, leaving little margin, which is exactly why the return flight so often had to stop at Brisbane. Range figures for the 747 should always be read as the far end of a curve, not as a radius.

Why Qantas needed the 747-400ER

Qantas's network combined very long sectors, large passenger demand and valuable belly freight. Boeing specifically cited Melbourne - Los Angeles as the kind of demanding route for which the extra capability mattered. Qantas said the new fleet would be used primarily on routes to the United States, and the first revenue flight was Sydney - Los Angeles.

The westbound leg to Australia could be especially demanding because of prevailing winds. The extra takeoff weight gave Qantas more options to carry commercially useful payload without an intermediate fuel stop or severe cargo restriction.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report also records VH-OEH operating San Francisco - Sydney in 2016, illustrating how the type continued to serve long trans-Pacific sectors late in its career.

Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth: the -400ER's finest hour

If the -400ER justifies its own existence, it is here. On 16 May 2011 Qantas put a 747-400ER into service on Flight 7, the nonstop Sydney - Dallas/Fort Worth leg - 13,804 km (8,577 mi, 7,454 nmi) with a scheduled block time of 15 hours 25 minutes.

At launch it was:

• the longest regularly scheduled nonstop flight ever flown by a Boeing 747;
• the third-longest regularly scheduled nonstop commercial flight in the world, behind only Singapore Airlines' Newark - Singapore and Los Angeles - Singapore services - both of which were flown by A340-500s in all-business-class cabins carrying around 100 passengers, not 300.

That last comparison is the point. The Singapore flights were longer on the map but carried a fraction of the people. QF7 was long and full, which is exactly the combination the -400ER existed to make possible.

The route used a four-class layout of 14 First, 66 Business, 40 Premium Economy and 187 Economy seats - 307 in total, a noticeably premium-heavy configuration chosen for a sector where the front of the aircraft carries disproportionate value.

The westbound direction was the hard one, as always on the kangaroo route. Flight 7 flew nonstop; the return Flight 8 often could not, and diverted via Brisbane, where passengers were offloaded to enable the extra 441 km to Sydney. Strong headwinds over the Pacific meant the return leg could not be flown within the -400ER's fuel capability on many days. The -400ER flew the route until 28 September 2014, after which Qantas moved it to the Airbus A380.

Qantas's decision to switch from San Francisco to Dallas as its Texas gateway was, in other words, a bet that the -400ER could close the gap. It could - but only just, and only eastbound.

The six Qantas 747-400ERs

Qantas was the only airline to order the passenger version. Its aircraft carried the Boeing designation 747-438ER - customer code 38 is Qantas, appended to the 747-400 model code, which is the same convention behind the 747-438 designation used for Qantas's standard 747-400s. The registration and customer-code decoder explains how Boeing's codes work.

Qantas named each aircraft after an Australian town. Early on, the names were not displayed on the outside of the aircraft, so a single photograph rarely identifies one.

Registration	Name	MSN / line number	Accepted by Qantas	Notable point
VH-OEE	Nullabur	32909 / 1308	6 December 2002	First -400ER built; initially used in Boeing's flight-test programme
VH-OEF	Sydney	32910 / 1313	31 October 2002	First delivered to Qantas and first to enter commercial service
VH-OEG	Parkes	32911 / 1320	20 December 2002	Third airframe accepted; the 54th Boeing 747 delivered to Qantas
VH-OEH	Hervey Bay	32912 / 1321	9 February 2003	Documented by the ATSB on San Francisco - Sydney service in 2016
VH-OEI	Ceduna	32913 / 1330	26 June 2003	Fifth of the six Qantas aircraft
VH-OEJ	Wunala	32914 / 1331	30 July 2003	Final Qantas 747; wore the Wunala Dreaming livery

VH-OEE was the first airframe built, but VH-OEF reached Qantas first while the prototype completed test work. That is why "first built" and "first delivered" refer to different aircraft.

Qantas changed cabin layouts and liveries during the fleet's long service - the fleet carried the standard "New Roo" scheme as well as One World, Go Wallabies and Wunala Dreaming specials - so a seat map or photograph from one year should not be treated as representative of the type's entire career.

Retirement and the final flight

The economics of long-haul aviation moved toward large twin-engine aircraft. They could serve many of the same city pairs with fewer seats and two engines, while the niche for a higher-weight passenger 747 remained small. The -400ER therefore stayed a six-aircraft Qantas subfleet.

Qantas announced in May 2018 that it would retire its entire 747 fleet by 2020. In the event COVID-19 removed the remaining schedule almost overnight, and the airline brought the whole operation forward by six months.

The six aircraft left service over about four months:

Registration	Final Qantas service	Left Australia	Fate
VH-OEF	9 Feb 2020, QF99 Sydney - Los Angeles	Feb 2020	Stored, San Bernardino Intl, California
VH-OEG	23 Mar 2020, QF64 Johannesburg - Sydney	10 Apr 2020	Mojave Air and Space Port, scrapped
VH-OEI	26 Mar 2020, QF64 Johannesburg - Sydney	4 Jun 2020	Mojave Air and Space Port, scrapped
VH-OEH	26 Mar 2020, QF26 Tokyo Haneda - Sydney	20 May 2020	Mojave Air and Space Port, scrapped
VH-OEE	29 Mar 2020, QF28 Santiago - Sydney	17 Jun 2020	Mojave Air and Space Port, scrapped
VH-OEJ	22 Jul 2020, QF7474 Sydney - Los Angeles	24 Jul 2020	Mojave Air and Space Port, scrapped

VH-OEF left first, in February, flying a normal scheduled service rather than a ceremonial one. It is the only one of the six still reported as intact and in storage; the other five went to the Mojave Desert, the graveyard where most of the world's retired 747s now sit. Qantas sold the fleet to GE Aviation Materials, which cancelled the aircraft from the Australian register in June 2020, and all six were ultimately parted out. Sections of VH-OEG's fuselage were later used by an aviation-themed accessories company.

No passenger 747-400ER survives anywhere. There is no preserved example, no museum airframe and no airworthy one. The type exists only in photographs, records and this page.

On its final flight VH-OEJ flew low over Sydney Harbour, dipped its wings to VH-OJA - Qantas's first 747-400, preserved at the HARS Aviation Museum - and departed to I Still Call Australia Home. The farewell flights page covers the ceremony in detail.

The last missions: evacuation and charter work

Before it was scrapped, VH-OEE flew two of Australia's early COVID-19 evacuation flights in February 2020: the first evacuation from Wuhan, and the Diamond Princess repatriation.

On 2 - 3 February 2020 it operated QF6031/6032 from Sydney via Hong Kong to Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, carrying 243 Australian citizens and permanent residents including 89 children out of the locked-down city. The flight routed circuitously south-east over the Moluccas, likely because overflight clearance was difficult to obtain, before landing at RAAF Base Learmonth near Exmouth, Western Australia. Evacuees were then transferred to smaller aircraft for the leg to Christmas Island quarantine. The 14-person volunteer cabin crew and two pilots who flew it were selected from a process Qantas described as oversubscribed, with the upper deck reserved entirely for crew.

Three weeks later, on 20 February 2020, the same aircraft flew the Diamond Princess evacuation, carrying around 180 passengers from Haneda near Yokohama to Darwin for a second period of quarantine.

The type also turned up on two unusual non-scheduled sectors. VH-OEG flew a Sydney - Antarctica - Sydney charter (QF2904) in November 2019, and in August 2016 position Rio de Janeiro to collect the Australian Olympic team, flying them home as QF6032. It had also flown Buenos Aires from the start of Qantas's direct South America service in 2011, and its very first revenue flight in December 2002 had been Sydney - Los Angeles as QF107.

That range of work - scheduled ultra-long-haul, humanitarian charter, Antarctic science support and Olympic team transport - is a fair summary of how a six-aircraft subfleet gets used when it is the only operator of its type.

747-400ER versus 747-400ERF

The 747-400ERF is closely related but not the same aircraft. The "F" identifies a purpose-built freighter. It has the short upper deck, a main-deck side cargo door and a hinged nose door for outsize freight; the passenger -400ER has the stretched upper deck and full passenger windows.

The most instructive difference is how each variant got its extra reach. The freighter does not use the auxiliary body fuel system at all - the same system that needed the second, unused tank position on the passenger aircraft. The -400ERF reached its figures by putting the whole MTOW increase into fuel instead, burned off in flight. See the 747-400ERF guide for the full payload-against-range trade.

The freighter found a much larger market because cargo operators could regularly use its high weight capability. Boeing built 40 747-400ERFs, compared with six passenger -400ERs.

Where the 747-400ER fits in the family

The -400ER was the ultimate higher-weight passenger version of the 747-400, but it was not the final passenger 747. Boeing later developed the larger 747-8 Intercontinental, with a stretched fuselage, new wing, raked wingtips and GEnx engines.

Related

• Boeing 747 specifications guide - every major model side by side
• Qantas fleet history - the airline that bought all six
• The farewell flights - how Qantas said goodbye to the 747
• Where the 747s went - tracking retired airframes
• Preserved Boeing 747s - the 747s that survived, and which did not
• Qantas 747 seat maps - the late-career cabin layouts
• Registration and customer-code decoder - why the type is written 747-438ER
• 747 fuel system - how the wing, centre, tail and body tanks feed the engines
• GE CF6 engines - the only powerplant fitted to the type
• 747 airframe registry - individual airframe records
• Boeing 747 production data - build totals by variant
• 747 timeline - the programme in date order