In 2021, KLM will operate its last regular Boeing 747-flights. Although the date of the final flight of a KLM Boeing 747 isn’t announced yet, the last flight of KLM’s Boeing 747-400 COMBI aircraft will be in January, next year. According to Routes Online, the last KLM Boeing 747-400COMBI flight will arrive at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on January 3, 2021.

The final destination of the aircraft, also famously known as the ‘Queen of the Sky’, will be New York JFK. In the days before, the airline also will fly the Boeing 747 to several other destinations including Mexico-City and Toronto.

Currently, the Dutch national carrier has eleven Boeing 747 aircraft in operation: four full pax aircraft, four combi aircraft and three full-freighter aircraft. During this year, those remaining aircraft will slowly be replaced by new aircraft like the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner and two additional Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Only the three full-freighter aircraft will remain in KLM’s fleet.

Next year, KLM will put an end to 50 years of flying the Boeing 747. The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 747 on January 16, 1971. The aircraft, a Boeing 747-200, was the first of 46 Boeing 747 aircraft the airline has used in those 50 years. During the years, the airline also operated the Boeing 747-200, Boeing 747-200COMBI, Boeing 747-200SUD and Boeing 747-300.

KLM is one of the few airlines that operated the COMBI-version of the Boeing 747-series. This COMBI-version allows the airline to transport passengers in the front section of the aircraft while larger pieces of cargo are placed in the backside of the aircraft. A few other airlines such as Asians and Lufthansa have used the COMBI-version in the past.

With the retirement of the last Boeing 747 next year, the list of remaining Boeing 747-400 operators is shortened once again. Currently, airlines like British Airways, Korean Air Lines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Thai Airways and Virgin Atlantic are also still operating flights with the Queen of the Sky. However, airlines like British Airways (2024), Qantas (2020), Thai Airways (2022) and Virgin Atlantic (2021) have already announced when they will retire their Boeing 747.

A couple of weeks ago, we published articles about destinations where the Boeing 747 still flies in 2020 and the future of the Boeing 747.

All images courtesy of Tim van Donselaar / Aeronautics Online