Last week, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) deregistered the last four Boeing 747-400s still listed as assets in the fleet of Air India, the national airline recently sold to the Tata Sons Group. With this, one of the last passenger jumbo jet operators in the world is saying goodbye to the model.
According to Aeroin, the aircraft had not been used on the Indian carrier’s scheduled flights for some years. Instead, they were employed on charter flights for religious events and served as a VIP transport platform for the local government. However, with the recent acquisition of a presidential Boeing 777, the jumbo has lost even more relevance.
The decision to remove the planes from the fleet was obvious. It is not yet known what the future of the aircraft, which were already reaching an average age of 27 years, will be.
The phasing out of four-engine jumbo jets worldwide is a trend, especially with the entry into service of reliable and much more economical twin-engine aircraft. Currently, most Boeing 747 jumbo jets operate on cargo flights. Only a handful of airlines still use them for passenger flights, such as Lufthansa (Germany), Mahan Air (Iran), and Rossiya (Russia), among a few others.
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