Boeing 747-400

Four engines, the hump – and at the wingtips two small, upright fins. Then you are very likely looking at a Boeing 747-400, the most-built of all jumbos. For decades it was the backbone of long-haul travel; today it has become rare in passenger livery and keeps flying mainly as a freighter. Here you will learn how to reliably identify the passenger version, the factory freighter and the converted freighter, how to tell it from the 747-8 and the A380, and where you can still catch it as of October 2026.

What is the Boeing 747-400?

The 747-400 is the third generation of the jumbo. Boeing first presented it in 1984 as a further development of the 747-300; the program officially launched in October 1985, when Northwest Airlines ordered ten aircraft. The fuselage remained essentially that of the 747-300 – including the stretched upper deck – but almost everything else was reworked.

The most important innovation was up front: a glass cockpit with screens instead of round dials, designed for two pilots. The flight engineer who still flew along in the older 747s was eliminated. In addition, the 747-400 got a longer wing with winglets, which reduce drag in cruise, lighter materials, an additional fuel tank in the horizontal stabilizer and new engines. Airlines could choose from three manufacturers: Pratt & Whitney PW4000, General Electric CF6-80C2 or Rolls-Royce RB211-524G/H.

The first flight took place on April 29, 1988, and in February 1989 the type entered scheduled service with Northwest. The 747-400 hit the nerve of the times: with a good 400 passengers it could fly about 13,500 kilometers nonstop, connecting Europe, Asia and America without a stopover. By the last delivery in December 2009, Boeing had built 694 aircraft – more than of any other 747 version. You will find more on the family history in the article The history of the Boeing 747.

The versions at a glance

Behind the code B744 is a whole family. For spotters, the differences in upper deck, windows and nose matter most.

Version	Use	Typical feature	Built
747-400	Passengers, long-haul	long upper deck, winglets	442
747-400M Combi	Passengers and cargo on the main deck	large cargo door at the rear left, windows kept	61
747-400D	Domestic flights in Japan	no winglets	19
747-400ER	Passengers, more range	looks like the 747-400	6
747-400F	Factory-built freighter	short hump, nose door, no fuselage windows	126
747-400ERF	Freighter with higher takeoff weight	like the 400F	40

Then there are the conversions: under the designations 747-400BCF (Boeing) and BDSF (Israel Aerospace Industries), retired passenger aircraft were converted into freighters; Boeing ended its conversion program in 2016. The most spectacular variant is the Dreamlifter (747-400LCF): four aircraft with a hugely enlarged fuselage whose tail swings sideways for loading. Boeing uses them to fly large components for the 787 between plants.

The fastest way to identify it

747-400, 747-8 or A380?

At the fence, the question is rarely whether it is a jumbo, but which one. The table shows the most important differences at a glance.

Feature	Boeing 747-400	Boeing 747-8	Airbus A380-800
Wingtips	upswept winglets	swept, no winglet	small wingtip fences
Engine nacelles	smooth	with chevrons	smooth
Upper deck	front only	front only, extended on the 8I	full length
Length	70.6 m	about 76.3 m	about 72.7 m
Wingspan	64.4 m	about 68.4 m	just under 80 m
ICAO code	B744	B748	A388

In good light, a look at the wingtips is usually enough. Freighters are trickier: the 747-400F and 747-8F both have the short hump. Here, winglets versus swept tips and smooth versus serrated nacelles decide. And if you generally struggle with silhouettes, the article How to tell Airbus and Boeing apart covers the basics.

Freighters: factory-built or converted?

With the 747-400 as a freighter, a second look pays off, because there are two fundamentally different builds.

The 747-400F and the 747-400ERF were built as freighters at the factory. They have the short hump of the early 747s because the saved weight benefits the payload. Their nose can be hinged up so that long cargo can be pushed into the fuselage directly from the front. There is also a large side door at the rear left. This freighter has no windows on the main deck.

Converted freighters (747-400BCF or BDSF), by contrast, were passenger aircraft first. They keep the long upper deck and get the large side cargo door, but no nose door. The old windows on the main deck are sealed – in photos you can often still see the outlines of the window openings.

You will find more on identifying cargo jets of all manufacturers in the article How to identify freighter aircraft. If you want to compare widebody freighters directly, also take a look at the Boeing 777F and the MD-11.

Who flies the 747-400 today

Passenger version

In passenger service, the 747-400 is a phasing-out model. Major operators such as British Airways, Qantas and Delta retired their fleets years ago, partly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lufthansa is among the last major airlines with the type in scheduled service. As of October 2026, only a small, single-digit number of aircraft still fly there; the group plans to retire the 747-400 completely, according to media reports around 2027, although individual aircraft may be parked earlier. Within the Lufthansa Group, the type is being replaced by new long-haul jets such as the Boeing 777-9 and the A350-1000.

In addition, a few aircraft fly with governments, charter companies and smaller airlines. Because such fleets change quickly, always check the current schedule before a targeted trip.

Freighters

The situation with freighters is much livelier. 747-400Fs, 400ERFs and converted freighters fly with Atlas Air, Cargolux and UPS, among others. Cargolux has ordered successors in the 777-8F, but announced in 2026 that it would buy more used 747-400Fs – a sign that the type will stay in the cargo business for a while. Cargo flights often land at night or at off-peak times and are rescheduled at short notice. So plan with live tracking instead of fixed schedules.

Where to see the 747-400 in Germany

For the passenger version, Frankfurt Airport is the first address, because that is where Lufthansa sends its jumbos off on long-haul routes. As part of the Star Alliance, these flights are tied into the connecting banks of the hub. A proven public vantage point is the Zeppelinheim viewing platform. Because the number of aircraft is shrinking, every rotation is valuable – if you still want the 747-400 in the crane livery in your archive, don’t wait too long.

Freighter versions turn up at the big cargo locations: in Frankfurt, at Leipzig/Halle Airport and at Cologne Bonn Airport. There, the Leipzig/Halle observation deck and the Cologne Bonn observation deck offer legal vantage points. Which freighters arrive on which day changes constantly; a look at a flight tracker on the same day is a must.

Spotting tips for the 747-400

• Use the type code. In flight trackers, B744 cleanly separates the 747-400 from the B748. How to read the data is explained in the guides on flight tracking with ADS-B and on IATA and ICAO codes.
• Check the runway direction in use. In Frankfurt it decides whether the jumbos land over your location or on the other side. More in the article Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport.
• Plan for night freighters. Many 747 freighters move in the dark. With the tips on photographing at night you can still get usable pictures.
• Plan the light ahead. Long-haul departures often fall in the evening. The guide to the sun position at your photo spot shows you when a location is in backlight.
• Keep an eye out for farewell flights. When airlines retire a type, there are often special flights or final rotations. Airlines usually announce such dates at short notice.

Photo tips

• Get the winglets in the frame. They are the feature that clearly identifies your photo as a 747-400. With tight crops the wingtips tend to get cut off – leave a bit of room.
• Side profile for freighters. Only in profile can you see hump length, windows and cargo door at a glance. That also lets you tell factory-built from converted freighters later.
• Three-quarter view from the front. About 30 to 45 degrees to the flight direction shows the hump, wings and all four engines – head-on, the jumbo looks stubby.
• Keep the registration legible. Because the passenger fleets are shrinking, every registration is a collectible of its own. How registrations are structured is explained in the article Understanding aircraft registrations.

Why the 747-400 is bowing out

The 747-400 was a product of its time: four-engine widebody jets were long a requirement, or at least the standard, on long overwater routes. With more reliable engines and extended rules for twinjets, aircraft like the Boeing 777-300ER and the Airbus A350-900 took over many routes – with two instead of four engines and much lower fuel consumption per seat. The four-engine competitor A340-600 is disappearing for similar reasons.

In the cargo business, the math looks different. The nose door, the large volume and the high payload make the 747-400F hard to replace for certain loads, and many aircraft have service life left. That is why you will see freighter jumbos with winglets for longer than their passenger sisters. For an overview of where the jumbo ranks among the giants, see the article The largest aircraft in the world.

Conclusion

The Boeing 747-400 is the jumbo that a whole generation of travelers knows: four engines, hump, winglets. For identification, a look at the wingtips is usually enough – upswept winglets and smooth engine nacelles separate it from the 747-8, while the short upper deck and the nose door give away the factory freighter. In Germany, Frankfurt is the last reliable address for the passenger version before Lufthansa retires the type; you can also see freighters at the cargo hubs Leipzig/Halle and Cologne Bonn.