I was invited to fly on the inaugural flight of Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8 from Frankfurt (FRA) to Washington, D.C., (IAD) on Saturday but had to decline as I had a conflict. It is great news that this plane, a favorite amongst travelers and voted Best Aircraft Type by Global Traveler readers, has been updated. Twenty have already been delivered and are in use as freighters, but this is the first use for commercial aviation.
Lufthansa’s CEO Christoph Franz and Elizabeth Lund, Boeing VP and GM of the 747 program, were on board to celebrate with the press and other VIPs on this exciting first flight. I think there is nothing like the feel of power in flight that passengers experience when flying on a 747, and this is one of the reasons it is consistently voted the best.
Global Traveler welcomes this first flight of the 747-8 and looks forward to this aircraft being adopted by more and more airlines.
— Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO
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