The Boeing 747-400 passenger plane at Asiana Airlines, a true icon of the skies, retired after completing its final flight on Monday. This aircraft, affectionately known as the ‘Queen of the Skies’ and ‘Jumbo,’ played a pivotal role in popularizing travel. It holds the distinction of being the last B747-400 in Korea, often serving as the prestigious presidential plane ‘Code One’ at Asiana Airlines.
According to Asiana Airlines, the plane departed from Taipei in Taiwan at 1:20 p.m. and arrived at Incheon Airport at 4:35 p.m. The B747-400 is a long-haul aircraft with 34 business class seats and 364 economy class seats. It is a large passenger plane. Introduced on June 20, 1999, the plane operated 1,8139 flights for 96,986 hours over 25 years and nine months. The total number of flights traveled reached 88 million kilometers, equivalent to the circulation of the Earth approximately 2,500 times.
The final flight was fully booked as aviation enthusiasts secured every seat well in advance. As a symbolic farewell gesture, fire trucks at both departure and arrival airports performed a "water salute" to commemorate the retirement of the aircraft. There were seat discount promotions and giveaway events for Instagram comments. All passengers on flight OZ711 from Incheon to Taipei were given B747 ID cards as souvenirs.
박현익 記者 beepark@donga.com
