747-8F

The 747-8 Freighter is the aircraft that carried the whole 747-8 programme, and the last 747 ever built. 107 were delivered — more than twice the Intercontinental — and the final one went to Atlas Air on 31 January 2023, closing the production line after 54 years and 1,574 aircraft.

It was also the first version of the 747-8 to fly and to enter service, going to Cargolux in October 2011.

Why Boeing built it first

By the mid-2000s the 747 was carrying roughly half the world’s air freight. That was the franchise worth defending, and it was under no real threat from twin-engined aircraft — because nothing else had a nose door.

So Boeing built the freighter first and the airliner second. It was the right call: the freighter outsold the passenger version more than two to one and kept the line open for a decade after passenger orders dried up.

What it carries

Maximum takeoff weight	987,000 lb (447,700 kg)
Payload	308,000 lb (140 t)
Range at maximum payload	4,120 nmi
Length	250 ft 2 in (76.25 m)
Built	107

The 18 ft 3½ in stretch over the 747-400F — split just before and just aft of the wing — created four extra pallet positions on the main deck, plus either two extra containers and two extra pallets, or three extra pallets, in the lower hold.

As on the -400F, the upper deck is short, not stretched. A freighter has no use for an upper-deck cabin, and the structure would be payload given away.

It achieves about 16 percent lower ton-mile operating cost than the 747-400F.

Payload versus range: the design choice

The 747-8F carries more than the 747-400ERF but does not fly as far, and the reason is a deliberate decision about where to spend the extra weight.

When Boeing launched the -400ERF, the entire 35,000 lb increase in maximum takeoff weight over the -400F (875,000 to 910,000 lb) was made available as extra fuel — burned off in flight so the aircraft landed at the standard -400F weight. That bought range.

The 747-8’s 60,000 lb MTOW increase went almost exclusively to zero-fuel weight — that is, to payload. Loaded to maximum payload, a 747-8F takes off with its tanks roughly half empty.

Which is better depends entirely on the operator. Carriers such as Cargolux frequently move machinery or indivisible loads — single items that cannot be split between two flights — where maximum payload and landing weight are hard limits and range is not. On trips where the payload is below maximum, the aircraft simply takes more fuel and flies further.

This is also why cargo range figures are quoted at maximum payload rather than at maximum fuel. A freighter’s useful range is the range it has when full.

Operators

UPS Airlines became the largest operator, with orders totalling 30 aircraft by 2016. Cargolux, Cathay Pacific Cargo, AirBridgeCargo, Korean Air and Atlas Air all flew substantial fleets.

Those aircraft are young by freighter standards. The 747-8Fs delivered in the 2010s and early 2020s have decades of work ahead of them — which means the 747 will be flying freight well into the 2040s, long after the last passenger example is gone.

Related

• 747-8 — the family overview
• 747-8 Intercontinental — the passenger version
• 747-400F — the previous generation
• The 747-8 Freighter interior