Aviationtag X EVA Air

In April 1998, the Boeing 747-400 left the factory doors for the Taiwanese airline EVA Air. Boasting a total of 372 seats, the plane served destinations such as Beijing, Chitose and Hong Kong. The final commercial flight BR-892 left Hong Kong headed for Taipei on 21 August 2017, taking 1:15 hours and close to fully booked with 370 passengers. Captain Dave Grose, first officer Ali Hsu and crew were on board to take care of the passengers. It was mainly Boeing enthusiasts wanting to pay their final respects to the “Queen” who had booked a place on the last flight, some of them even travelling all the way from Los Angeles and Canada for the occasion. In its standard configuration, the plane was always divided into three classes: economy, premium economy “elite class” and “premium laurel” business class. For this short flight, though, only economy and business class tickets were on sale, with the upshot that 56 lucky passengers were able to nab a premium economy seat for the price of an economy ticket. Passengers reported a high-spirited and awestruck atmosphere during the last flight with everyone savouring the chance to fly on EVA Air’s “Queen of the Skies” one last time. They took a lot of photos, traded stories with other fellow fans, had the pilot sign their logbooks and all sorts of mementos.

A few days after the final passenger flight, the plane made its way with a small crew to San Bernardino, California - the jumbo jet’s final resting place. This also marked the retirement of the last Boeing 747-400 passenger plane. Luckily, Aviationtag was able to secure part of the outer skin to create our one-of-a-kind collector’s items, key and luggage tags, allowing EVA Air’s last Boeing 747-400 to live on. EVA Air’s characteristic green and white colours are also clearly recognisable in this Aviationtag edition.

The airline, which was founded in March 1989 as a subsidiary of Evergreen Marine, relied on the “Queen of the Skies” for many years. Over a 25-year period, the airline operated up to 18 B-747-400 models, comprising all-passenger jets, passenger and freighter combinations and dedicated freighter planes. The first two all-passenger Boeing 747s were delivered back in November 1992, enjoying a permanent place in the fleet from then on. The new model enabled Eva Air to add Los Angeles, Seattle and Vancouver to its network and introduced the world to the industry’s first premium economy in the jumbo cabin.

The retirement of the passenger plane came after the retirement of the 747-400 combis in January 2015, the five freighters remaining in service until 2019.

Worldwide, the 747-400 was the most popular version of Boeing’s legendary 747 family, selling 694 units, or nearly half of Boeing’s total 747 production.