Boeing 747-400 vs 747-8

The 747-8 is what happens when you take everything the 747-400 learned and rebuild the aircraft around a new wing. The two are related — the -8 is squarely a -400 descendant — but Boeing’s engineers changed enough that it flies, weighs and sells completely differently.

The fuselage

The -400 spans three decades of 747s at 231 ft 10 in. The -8 stretches that to 250 ft 2 in — the first fuselage-length change since the 747SP cut one short in 1976. The extra 18 ft 3 in carries 51 more passengers in a three-class layout.

The wing

The -400’s solved wing grew 6 ft tip extensions and 6 ft winglets to span 211 ft 5 in. The -8 threw that wing away. Its new wing spans 224 ft 5 in and ends in raked wingtips instead of winglets — the same trick used on the 777-300ER — which is the single clearest way to identify the aircraft.

The engines

	747-400	747-8
Engines	PW4000, CF6-80C2 or RB211-524G/H	GEnx-2B only
Representative thrust	56,500–63,300 lbf	66,500 lbf
Removal?	Different engines on offer	Exclusivity deal with GE

The GEnx-2B is derived from the 787’s engine, with a smaller fan to sit under a four-engined wing and bleed air restored for the 747’s systems. Boeing offered no alternative — the reverse of the engine-choice philosophy that had once saved the -200.

Range and payload

The -8 flies a little further (7,730 nmi vs 7,285 nmi) and carries more. But the interesting split is inside the programme itself: the -8F spent its extra weight on zero-fuel weight, buying payload, while the -400ERF had spent its increase on fuel, buying range. Same question, opposite answers.

The production reality

	747-400	747-8
Built	694	155
First delivered	1989	2011-12
Last delivered	2009	January 2023

The -400 was the best-selling 747 generation and the -8 the smallest since the 747SP. The -8 entered service at the worst possible moment: four-engined types were being retired, not ordered. That it was the last 747 ever built is the whole story in one line.