According to feiyouqun, Air China's 747-400 aircraft b-2445 has been officially retired. The plane was delivered in February, 1994, and now it is 28.4 years old. The president of Latin America once wrote that it was "the oldest passenger plane in China".
Photo: Air China b-2445 747-400 photo: close the curtain
Chinese airliners are generally only used for 20 years, and most of them are bought by foreign countries. There are third world countries, as well as developed countries in the United States and Europe. Foreign countries have a high level of maintenance. Whether it's an airliner or a cargo plane, it can fly for more than ten years. But b-2445 is so "old" that I'm afraid it can only be disassembled - even the value of changing the freighter is not great.
Boeing 747 is a powerful generation of famous aircraft, which has made great contributions to human civilization. But with the development of the times, its technology is gradually backward. Because of the high fuel consumption, it has gradually withdrawn from the historical stage in the field of passenger transport. However, 747 is of special significance to Air China, so Air China still retains 9 passenger planes (excluding b-2445), including 2 747-400 and 7 747-8.
Photo: Air China 747-8 photo: close the curtain
China's civil aviation is experiencing the most difficult moment in history, and losses are accumulating at an alarming rate every day. Now China Eastern Airlines and Air China are accelerating the retirement of old aircraft. Take Air China as an example, six Boeing 737-800 have been retired this year, including b-2648, b-2671 and b-2672 - these three were ready to be retired before the epidemic, but the business was too good at that time, and they flew for more than two years.
Photo: No. b-2672 with no wings and no stargazing window in "to death" photo: close the curtain
Boeing 737 is the main force of civil aviation, taking off and landing many times a day. But the 747 is a long-range plane, which often flies for more than ten hours with one wing. Because there are fewer take-off and landing cycles, it usually has a longer life than the 737. But it is a four engine aircraft. Now the oil price is so high, it is very uneconomical economically, especially flying domestic routes.
Air China is currently one of the few 747 passenger aircraft operators in the world. Because China now has few international flights, its 747 fleet is currently working on the Beijing Guangzhou line. If the b-2445 is really retired, the "oldest airliner in China" will change ownership to the b-2447, which is one year younger than it. Some flying friends said that the b-2447 is also stopped now, and then there is the b-2472——
Picture: and b-2472 photo: zhangmx969
B-2472 was introduced in 2000. If the service life of b-2445 is applied, it can fly for another seven or eight years. Therefore, Chinese flying friends still have enough time to experience the Boeing 747-400. Of course, when there is only one 747-400 left, the maintenance cost is too high, and it is also possible to retire this model in advance.
In fact, the maintenance level of civil aviation aircraft in China is not low, and spare parts are willing to spend money. Therefore, no matter how old you are, you can ride safely.