Jumbo Jet
21 images Created 14 Jun 2012
When asked what is his favourite building of the Century, architect Sir Norman Foster offered the 747 the Jumbo has since carried 2.2 billion people: 40% of the world's population.
But the 747 has almost seen its day with the advent of more fuel-efficient and larger aviation workhorses such as the A380 and leaner, meaner machines in an era when operators need to save air-Dollars. Ten-year-old passenger 747-400s are worth a record low $36 million, about 10 percent less than similar aged planes last year, according to Ascend Worldwide Ltd., amid high fuel costs and a cargo slump that has damped interest in converting aircraft into freighters. Forty-eight of the 404 humpbacked passenger 747-400s worldwide have also been placed in storage, according to the London-based aviation consultancy, as the once "Queen of the Skies" is shunned for 777s and Airbus SAS A380s.
"There's not a lot of demand for the 747," said Paul Sheridan, Ascend's Hong Kong-based head of risk analysis. "They're mostly being broken up for parts."
But the 747 has almost seen its day with the advent of more fuel-efficient and larger aviation workhorses such as the A380 and leaner, meaner machines in an era when operators need to save air-Dollars. Ten-year-old passenger 747-400s are worth a record low $36 million, about 10 percent less than similar aged planes last year, according to Ascend Worldwide Ltd., amid high fuel costs and a cargo slump that has damped interest in converting aircraft into freighters. Forty-eight of the 404 humpbacked passenger 747-400s worldwide have also been placed in storage, according to the London-based aviation consultancy, as the once "Queen of the Skies" is shunned for 777s and Airbus SAS A380s.
"There's not a lot of demand for the 747," said Paul Sheridan, Ascend's Hong Kong-based head of risk analysis. "They're mostly being broken up for parts."
