Boeing 747-400
Wide-body jet
- Passengers flown a year
- 689.2K
- 27th-most common US type
- Airframes in US fleets
- 70
- US operators
- 5
- Airports served
- 7
- Countries
- 3
- Load factor
- 77.1%
Where the Boeing 747-400 flies
Filed traffic dataThe operators table below counts the registered Boeing 747-400 airframes each airline owns (US DOT Form 41). These figures are how much the type actually flew — departures, seats, and passengers filed with US DOT T-100 over the trailing 12 months, not fleet size.
Departures flown
3,051
July 2026
Seats flown
939,472
Passengers
689,174
Load factor
77.1%
RPM ÷ ASM
Block hours
2,788
Busiest Boeing 747-400 routes
The Boeing 747-400's busiest US routes over the trailing 12 months, by departures.
London – Orlando (LGW–MCO)
1,071 departures · 290,934 passengers · 4,353 mi
81.1%
Load
London – Tampa (LGW–TPA)
572 departures · 130,061 passengers · 4,427 mi
67.8%
Load
Frankfurt am Main – Houston (FRA–IAH)
255 departures · 78,708 passengers · 5,231 mi
83.2%
Load
Boston – Frankfurt am Main (BOS–FRA)
188 departures · 56,453 passengers · 3,669 mi
80.9%
Load
New York – London (JFK–LGW)
131 departures · 36,708 passengers · 3,470 mi
83.9%
Load
Frankfurt am Main – San Francisco (FRA–SFO)
100 departures · 30,519 passengers · 5,699 mi
82.3%
Load
Frankfurt am Main – New York (FRA–JFK)
70 departures · 23,287 passengers · 3,855 mi
89.7%
Load
Las Vegas – London (LAS–LGW)
64 departures · 16,474 passengers · 5,253 mi
77.5%
Load
Cincinnati / Covington – Cincinnati / Covington (CVG–CVG)
24 departures · 2 passengers
—
Load
Frankfurt am Main – Dulles (FRA–IAD)
24 departures · 7,164 passengers · 4,080 mi
80.5%
Load
Baltimore – Baltimore (BWI–BWI)
23 departures · 0 passengers
—
Load
Frankfurt am Main – Columbus (HHN–LCK)
20 departures · 0 passengers · 4,209 mi
—
Load
Frankfurt am Main – New York (HHN–JFK)
18 departures · 0 passengers · 3,806 mi
—
Load
Atlanta – Frankfurt am Main (ATL–HHN)
16 departures · 0 passengers · 4,565 mi
—
Load
13 departures · 0 passengers · 861 mi
0.0%
Load
The longest and shortest Boeing 747-400 flights
The two ends of the type's working envelope, from the routes it actually flew — not what the airframe is certified to do.
Longest route flown
5,231 mi
Frankfurt am Main – Houston (FRA–IAH)
255 departures · 83% load
Flown by Lufthansa.
Shortest route flown
3,470 mi
New York – London (JFK–LGW)
131 departures · 84% load
Flown by British Airways. Also one of the type's busiest routes anywhere in the US — a short hop worked like a bus line.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment. Data through July 2026.
Airports the Boeing 747-400 serves
The Boeing 747-400 serves 7 US airports across 3 countries. The busiest, by departures:
- LGW
London
889 departures · 3 routes · 1 operator
40.1%
Share
- MCO
535 departures · 1 route · 3 operators
24.1%
Share
- TPA
285 departures · 1 route · 1 operator
12.9%
Share
- FRA
Frankfurt am Main
222 departures · 2 routes · 2 operators
10.0%
Share
- IAH
127 departures · 1 route · 3 operators
5.7%
Share
- BOS
94 departures · 1 route · 2 operators
4.2%
Share
- JFK
65 departures · 1 route · 3 operators
2.9%
Share
Who flies the Boeing 747-400
Two questions in one table. Airframes is what each carrier reported owning in its US DOT fleet filing; seats flown is how much of the type it actually operated. They can rank differently, and the gap is the interesting part.
| Operator | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas Air5Y | 47 | 73.7K | 7.8% | 17.0 yr |
| National AirlinesN8 | 6 | 0 | 0.0% | 13.2 yr |
| Kalitta AirKAQ | 10 | — | — | 17.1 yr |
| UPS Airlines5X | 6 | — | — | 22.4 yr |
| Delta Air LinesDL | 1 | — | — | 24.8 yr |
Airframes are the latest Form 41 filing; seats flown and share are US DOT T-100 for the type's most-flown operators — a dash means a carrier isn't among them (a freighter operator, or one that flies fewer).
How old is the US Boeing 747-400 fleet?
Age is measured from each airframe's delivery date — the FAA airworthiness date where available, otherwise the manufacturer's. Bars share a fixed scale across every fleet page, so two carriers can be compared directly.
Monthly Boeing 747-400 capacity
How common is the Boeing 747-400?
The Boeing 747-400 makes up 0.8% of all tracked US airline aircraft — the 27th-most common type in service.
Share of all tracked US airline aircraft · top 12 types shown · 118 others hold the remaining 36.8% · Boeing 747-400 is the ringed slice at 0.8%
- 1
872 aircraft
10.0%
Share
- 2
708 aircraft
8.1%
Share
- 3
526 aircraft
6.1%
Share
- 4
481 aircraft
5.5%
Share
- 5
470 aircraft
5.4%
Share
- +21 more types
- 27
Boeing 747-400#27 · this type
70 aircraft
0.8%
Share
Frequently asked
How many Boeing 747-400 are in US airline fleets?
US carriers operate about 70 Boeing 747-400 aircraft across 5 airlines, 69 of them in service.
Which airline operates the most Boeing 747-400?
Atlas Air operates the largest US Boeing 747-400 fleet, with about 47 aircraft.
What is the busiest Boeing 747-400 route?
The busiest US route flown by the Boeing 747-400 is LGW–MCO, with about 1,071 departures over the trailing 12 months.
Which airline flies the Boeing 747-400 the most?
British Airways flies the most Boeing 747-400 capacity in US service, with about 624.6K seats flown over the trailing 12 months.
How many passengers does the Boeing 747-400 carry?
The Boeing 747-400 carried about 689.2K passengers on US routes over the trailing 12 months.
What is the longest Boeing 747-400 flight?
The longest US route flown by the Boeing 747-400 is FRA–IAH, about 5,231 miles, flown by Lufthansa.
How many airports does the Boeing 747-400 serve?
The Boeing 747-400 serves about 7 US airports across 3 countries, led by London (LGW).
How old is the average Boeing 747-400?
The US Boeing 747-400 fleet averages about 17.3 yr.
How common is the Boeing 747-400 in US fleets?
The Boeing 747-400 is the 27th-most common aircraft type in tracked US airline fleets, by number of aircraft.
Trip reports on YouTube
Fliers post trip reports from Boeing 747-400 flights to YouTube. These three were matched automatically from public YouTube listings — The Frequent Flier does not host, review, or endorse them.
Simply Aviation
First-Row BUSINESS CLASS in the NOSE of Lufthansa's Boeing 747-400 from Frankfurt to New York JFK!
20:44 · Mar 2025
OnBoardHD
TRIP REPORT | Onboard Lufthansa's B747! | Frankfurt to Boston | Lufthansa Boeing 747-400
32:30 · May 2026
The Trip Reporter
Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 Upper Deck Business Class Trip Report | Vancouver to Frankfurt
28:17 · May 2026
Source: YouTube. Titles, thumbnails, and channel names come from YouTube. Playing a video loads the YouTube player, and using it means you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service; the Google Privacy Policy applies.