The Boeing 747 is one of the most successful and beloved aircraft programs of all time. Beginning over half a century ago, Boeing has built over 1,500 planes across the 747 family before announcing the end of the program earlier this year. //

Boeing developed the 747-8 as competition for the successful A380 program by Airbus. The planemaker sought an aircraft with a capacity approaching 500 passengers and considered many designs before beginning 747-8 production by 2008. The freighter variant (747-8F) was introduced in 2011 before the passenger variant (747-8 Intercontinental or 747-8I) came out a year later.

At the time, the 747-8 was the longest aircraft in the world at 76.25m, an accolade it held until the 777-9 took to the skies this year. During the design phase, Boeing predicted around 300 orders for the plane, split equally between freighter and passenger variants. The program managed just half that figure: 107 freighter orders and only 47 for the passenger plane.