KLM is giving the Queen of the Skies a reprieve.
KLM flies a fleet of 12 Boeing 747-400 Combis. The plan was to fully retire this aircraft type by end of 2020, replacing it with Airbus A350-900s. But KLM is deferring delivery of its first A350-900 until 2021. That means KLM 747s should remain the sky for at least an extra year.
The Slow Disappearance of Four-Engine Jets At Air France/KLM
The 747-400 is not the only aircraft that will be mothballed. Air France will also retire its six A340-300s by the end of 2020. While the A380 will remain in the Air France fleet, all other four-engine jets will be replaced with Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 jets with only two engines. Air France will be first to receive A350s next year, which have already been designated for Joon. In total, Air France/KLM ordered 28 A350s, seven of which will go to KLM.
CONCLUSION
Of course all these plans could change. A spokesman told AIN Online, “We anticipate the phase-out of the 747s to finish in 2021, but also this could still change.” The only change I am hoping for is a further delay to the Queen’s retirement. There is still no plane like it in the sky.
Will you fly on the KLM 747-400 Combi before it is retired?
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image: Bill Abbott / FLICKR
Economy comfort on a 747-combi has to be one of the better deals in the sky. I love the two-abreast seating adjacent to the galley wall – the additional space to the right of the seats is fantastic. I love that KLM flies these to ORD and will be sad to see them go – their E+ is the best economy seat to Europe.
Best view has got to be at the AF lounge at ORD. The KL747 parks right outside the windows so you are basically a couple of feet from the nose of the plane as you sit back with a beer. Amazing sight
Flew to Schipol in 1972 as a 12 yr old in a KLM 747. At the time they were nearly brand new and the most amazing thing in the air. Fast forward almost 40 years and I am ready to retire. In all my flights since then have never flown 747 anywhere. Since we plan to start doing more long distance travel in the spring, maybe it’s time again.
Always love hearing news that Her Majesty The Queen will remain in service instead of being cast aside like an old, unwanted, shoe (as so many other airlines have done) and replaced by vastly inferior – for passengers of all classes since nothing beats the truly, and in fact ONLY, pointy end of the front cabin in the nose of a Boeing 747, or of course, the very private and ‘exclusive’ feel of the upper deck for premium classes, not to mention the far more spacious economy cabin plus the six (or so) MORE lavatories (versus comparable capacity densified 777s) that are found only on the Queen, and none of her other vastly inferior (plebeian) Boeing replacements such as the dreaded, and appalling, nine abreast 787, or any ten abreast, “densified” 777s which I would imagine are equally horrible based on others’ accounts, including my partner, whom after just two (2) UA transcon flights EWR-SFO-EWR in June, 2017, and even in E+, said “never, ever, again” and switched all of his transcon flights (3-5 per year) to Delta’s Comfort+ (which, btw, Delta, was not nearly as good as it used to be on his last trip in late June).
If one has flown on a nine abreast 787, then they already know how miserable that plane is for Economy passengers – especially on long haul overnight flights where attempting to walk through the aisles is fraught with danger for the person walking, whom so easily can trip and fall over the endless array of feet, legs, hands, elbows, arms, upper torsos, and even heads splayed across the aisles practically criss crossing each other like spaghetti strands – or of course, the many passengers seated on both sides of the aisles whose limbs are kicked, nicked, bumped, or even smacked into as one attempts to shimmy (sideways) up and down the aisles!
I have yet to experience the misery that is a densified ten abreast Boeing 777, but will be sure to sample it briefly on a pair of 16 hours flights to/from Asia later this year to see if it matches the poopshow that were the pair of 787 flights earlier this year, where otherwise, we will be escaping that 16+ hours nightmare in PE.
Anyhow, and getting back to the topic at hand, so glad to see some overdue love being shown for the one and only “Queen” by KLM!!!
And yes, if an opportunity presents itself to fly KLM’s 747-400 combi before she’s retired, I would love to, as that would pretty much allow me to have flown EVERY model of the 747 except the -300 and the -8i, including the spectacular 18+ hours between Athens, Greece and Johannesburg, South Africa via Lisbon, Portugal in 1st class where there were just three passengers, including a VIP who knew the crew well as a regular commuter on that flight, and it was a party like no other ever had before or since on the incredible 747-SP which to this day remains the best flight ever taken!
So, with the -8i still likely doable for the foreseeable future (YAY!), having an extra year or two to try and fly KLM’s “Unicorn” combis would be awesome for this longtime admirer of the Queen!
Long Live the Queen! 🙂
Flew LAX AMS on the Queen last summer in Business on the Upper Deck. Such a wonderful flight. I’ve been on the A380 and it’s fantastic, but there is something special about the KLM 747 Combo. The FAs and the Purser were wonderful. The Captain invited our son and us to visit the cockpit. The most unusual feature IMHO is the Purser’s office downstairs. A small cubby, but that detail shows how special the 747 is. Long live the Queen!