It’s been half a century since the world was first introduced to the iconic Boeing 747 when it emerged from a factory in Everett, Washington on September 30, 1968.
History was made as the jet, which would revolutionise long-haul travel, was unveiled to a crowd of thousands.
The introduction of the Boeing 747 meant airlines could travel long routes with twice as many passengers as Boeing’s pioneering 707.
The jet was so much larger than anything else on the market with a maximum take-off weight of more than 333 tonnes.
Airlines around the world couldn’t wait to get their hands on the jumbo jet, which allowed them to fly up to 8,560 km without refueling.
And what a relief it was a hit because creating the aircraft saw Boeing go deep in debt, seeking funding from seven different banks.
A 747-400 can comfortably carry around 416 passengers, but this is not the limit.
The absolute record for a 747 was in an operation carried out by the Israeli Air Force to airlift Ethiopian Jews in the early 1990s. One El-Al 747 took off and safely carried 1,122 people back in Israel.
Over the last 50 years, the 747 has seen immense success as both a passenger airliner and a freighter. In fact, more than 1,500 have been built since 1968.
Today some 545 747s continue to fly, many of them freight aircraft converted from retired airliners.
Just a few months ago Qantas confirmed that would be retiring the last of its 747s by the end of 2020 – earlier than expected – by replacing them with six newly ordered Boeing 787-9s.