Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 / 747-400F

The 747-400 was announced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in October 1985.

Compared to the 747-300 the 747-400 has 6 feet (1.8 m) wing tip extensions and 6 feet (1.8 m) winglets, and a glass cockpit which dispensed with the need for a flight engineer.

Role: Airliner (Medium-long haul)
Manufacturer: Boeing Commercial Airplanes
First flight: 29 April 1988
Status: In service
Unit cost: US$230 million (2006)
SIA 747-400 (Megatop): 15
SIA 747-400F (Freighter) (Mega Ark): 14

The 747-400 also improved on the -300 with tail fuel tanks, revised engines, an all-new interior, revised fuselage/wing fairings and newer in-flight entertainment. Like the 747-300, the passenger version of the 747-400 included the stretched upper deck (SUD) as a standard feature. The SUD was almost twice as long as the standard upper deck. It had previously been offered as a retrofit and first appeared on two Japanese 747-100 SR models. While the wingspan was increased, the overall weight of the wings was decreased due to the use of composites and aluminum alloys.

It was rolled out in January 1988 and first flew on 29 April 1988. Certification was received on 10 January 1989 with PW4000 engines, 18 May 1989 with CF6-80C2s and 8 June 1989 with RB211-524Gs. The first 747-400 was delivered to Northwest Airlines on 26 January 2989, with service entry on 9 February.

The extended range freighter (ERF) entered service in October 2002. The next month, the extended range (ER) passenger version entered service with Qantas, the only airline ever to order the passenger version of the 747-400ER. Qantas uses the aircraft on its Melbourne-Los Angeles and Sydney-San Francisco flights, which are too long to operate using a standard 747-400.

The Boeing Signature Interior was later made available on the 747-400, either as interior refitting on existing 747-400s or as a "fresh-from-installation" option on newer 747-400s and 747-400ERs. One example, China Airlines's four newest Boeing 747-400s (tail number B-1821x), also the last four passenger 747-400s built, were newly built with Boeing Signature Interior. One of these (B-18210) has a hybrid livery, with China Airlines' tail and Boeing's fuselage liveries.

747-400F

The 747-400F (Freighter) is an all freight version which uses the fuselage design of the 747-200F. The aircraft's first flight was on 4 May 1993 and it entered service with Cargolux Airlines on 17 November 1993. Major customers include Atlas Air, Cargolux, China Airlines, Korean Air, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Polar Air Cargo and Singapore Airlines. The -400F can be easily distinguished from the passenger -400 by its shorter upper-deck hump.

Singapore Airlines operates a wide-body aircraft fleet from four aircraft families: the Boeing 747, the Boeing 777, Airbus A380 and the Airbus A340.In keeping with its policy of maintaining a young fleet, which stands at an average of 6 years 5 months as at 31 March 2008, it renews its fleet frequently.

The airline names its fleet according to plane makes. The Boeing 747-400s were called "Megatop", the Boeing 777s were called "Jubilee" and the Airbus A340-500s were named "Leadership". Names for airliners previously flown by the airline include: "Superbus" for the 8 Airbus A300, "3TEN" for the 23 Airbus A310-300, "Celestar" for the 17 Airbus A340-300,"Super B" for the 23 Boeing 747-200B, "Big Top" for the 14 Boeing 747-300.

Singapore Airlines has never painted an aircraft without its tail livery. Even special liveries such as the Tropical Megatop and the Star Alliance livery still retain the signature stylised bird on their vertical stabilizers.

The Boeing 747s have been the primary long-range aircraft for the airline since their introduction into the fleet, first with the -212B variant in 31 July 1973. Singapore Airlines was, at one time, the world's largest operator of the -400 variant when the 34th airframe was delivered on 13 October 1994 and was the first to fly the aircraft on a commercial trans-Pacific flight.

Specifications

Cockpit crew: 2
Seating capacity: 416 (3-class)
SIA seat configuration: 375
(P12/J50/Y313)
Length: 231 ft 10 in (70.6 m)
Wingspan: 213 ft 0 in (64.9 m)
Height: 63 ft 8 in (19.4 m)
Weight empty: 393,263 lb (178,756 kg)
Maximum take-off weight: 875,000 lb (396, 890 kg)
Cruising speed: Mach 0.85 (491 kt, 910 km/h)
Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (590 kt, 1093 km/h)
Takeoff run at MTOW: 3,018 m
Range fully loaded: 7,260 NM (13,450 km)
Max. fuel capacity: 57,285 US gal (216,840 L)
Engine model (x4): PW 4062
Engine thrust (x4): 63,300 lbf