• Several airlines retired the Boeing 747 during the pandemic and Boeing stopped production.
• But the iconic "Queen of the Skies" is still operated by several country's governments and royals.
• That includes China's Xi Jinping and the Saudi King, who boards on a golden escalator.

The Boeing 747 has become one of the most iconic airplanes ever built since it was introduced in 1970. The double-decker aircraft pioneered the use of the term "jumbo jet."

But the "Queen of the Skies" is growing old, and its four engines are thirstier than newer, more fuel-efficient jets.

During the pandemic, airlines like British Airways, KLM, and Qantas retired their 747s, and Boeing decided to end production.

A handful of Boeing 747s are still flying commercially, but you're more likely to see one carrying cargo.

Yet sometimes, reputation outweighs efficiency. The 747 is still the jet of choice for 11 governments and royal families around the world.

Air Force One is the most iconic — although technically, it's not a 747 but a militarized version called the VC-25A. The jumbo jet is most popular among leaders in Asia, primarily the Middle East.

In alphabetical order, here are the countries that have their own Boeing 747s.

Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain, an island country in the Persian Gulf, is one of many oil-rich nations on this list.

Bahrain Royal Flight operates two 747-400s which are both over 20 years old. They are used to fly King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and his family.

Brunei

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, is one of the flashiest leaders in the world. His palace has over 1,700 rooms, more than 2 million sq ft of space, and a 110-car garage.

One of the few absolute monarchs on this list, he has one Boeing 747-8, which is operated by the airline Sultan's Flight.

Sultan's Flight previously had another two 747s. Its current fleet also includes a Boeing 767 and a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that was delivered in 2018.

China

China is the only country whose governmental Boeing 747 is actually operated by its flag carrier.

With the Air China livery, it looks the same as the airline's eight 747s on the outside. However, the one registered B-2479 is said to have been kitted out for the government to use.

During Xi Jinping's visit to South America in November, Air China deployed another 747 for other personnel, as well as a cargo version that carried a luxury Hongqi car, Simple Flying reported.

Morocco

Morocco has the lowest GDP per capita on this list, of $4,204. However, the royal family is one of the richest: Forbes estimated that King Mohammed VI had a net worth of $5.7 billion in 2015.

There are two jumbo jets registered to the country's government: a 747-400 and a larger 747-8. It also owns a Boeing 737.

The 747s have "Kingdom of Morocco" written on the side in Arabic, and stripes in the flag's colors of red and green. It's similar to the former livery of the country's flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc.

Oman

Like Brunei's leader, the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq also heads an absolute monarchy.

Oman Royal Flight operates two Boeing 747s. The older 747-400 was delivered in 2001, while a newer 747-8 was delivered in 2012.

The Sultan also owns a business-jet version of Airbus' A320 and A319 jets.

Qatar

The Boeing 747 pictured above may look like a Qatar Airways plane from the outside, but it is only used to transport the country's ruling Al-Thani family.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wife, Noora bint Hathal Al Dosari, arrived on one of their two 747-8s when they visited the UK in December.

Qatar Amiri Flight has 13 planes in total — the most of any on this list.

Bloomberg estimated the family's fortune to be $150 billion. The country's sovereign wealth fund has myriad investments around the globe, including a substantial stake in London Heathrow Airport.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has the richest royal family in the world. Including its holdings in state oil company Aramco, some estimates put the figure over $1 trillion.

Among its six active jets is one Boeing 747-400, per ch-aviation data.

88-year-old King Salman travels with a 1,500-person entourage and two Mercedes Benz limousines, The Points Guy reported.

He also has a golden escalator to board and deplane the 747 — which once malfunctioned on a trip to Russia.

South Korea

South Korea's presidential jet is known as Code One — an upgraded 747-8 leased from flag carrier Korean Air.

It's the newest plane on this list, in service since January 2022.

"From decorating the exterior of the plane to remodeling the inside of the plane with customized facilities for the president, such as an office room and sleeping area, the plane needs to reinforce its protection function for the security of the president," an industry inside told The Korea Herald.

Turkey

After opposition politicians expressed concern about using taxpayers' money to buy a jet, Qatar's Al-Thani gifted Turkey a $500 million Boeing 747-8 in 2018, per the BBC.

The two countries grew closer after Turkey supported Qatar during a diplomatic crisis from 2017 to 2021, when other Arab states cut off ties.

The Turkish government also owns four Airbus planes.

United States

Air Force One is perhaps the most iconic governmental plane. However, it stands out from the rest because it isn't technically a 747. Instead, it's a militarized version called the VC-25A, meaning it can do things like refuel in midair.

However, it's over 30 years old, with two new ones in the pipeline. In his first term, Donald Trump renegotiated the contract with Boeing to limit costs below $4 billion. He most likely won't get to fly on the new jets, though, with delivery now expected in 2029.

• Korean Air is expected to stop flying the longest Boeing 747 passenger flight in March 2025.
• Airlines globally have been phasing out the massive jet in favor of less costly widebodies.
• Only four airlines are scheduled to operate the jumbo in 2025, representing 75% fewer 747 flights than in 2019.

Korean Air is among the last airlines still flying the iconic Boeing 747, but it's scheduled to pull the jet from a particularly long US route in 2025.

Route scheduling data from the aviation analytics company Cirium shows Korean Air plans to stop flying the 747 on its 7,153-mile route from Seoul to Atlanta — the longest 747 passenger flight by distance — in March. It will replace the 747 with the smaller Boeing 777-300ER, which has fewer seats on board.

Korean's 777 carries up to 291 passengers, depending on the configuration, compared to the 368 seats on the double-decker 747. Korean did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Korean may sell more upgraded seats on the 777 to make up for fewer total tickets sold per flight. Most of Korean's scheduled 777 flights to Atlanta are equipped with more high-dollar first and business-class seats than the 747.

The carrier is expected to fly the 747 to New York, Los Angeles, and Singapore next year but plans to retire the fleet fully by 2031. Reuters reported that Korean sold five Boeing 747s in May for $674 million as part of its phase-out plan.

Airlines globally have been phasing out the famous "Queen of the Skies" for years. Boeing ended production of the jet in December 2022 after 54 years and 1,574 units built.

While the 747 was already leaving fleets before 2020 — with no US carrier flying it by the end of 2017 — airlines accelerated retirements when the pandemic uprooted travel.

British Airways, Dutch flag carrier KLM, and Australia's Qantas all ditched the plane during Covid to help weather losses and better shape their future fleets.

The gas-guzzling four-engine 747 is costly and inefficient compared to newer twin-engine widebodies, like Boeing's 777 and 787 and Airbus' A330neo and A350, that airlines now more readily rely on.

The 747 also proved too big for airlines' needs, especially as point-to-point flying using smaller widebodies became more lucrative than the traditional hub-and-spoke model that warranted greater capacity.

Even narrow-body planes are starting to become more common on long-haul flights.

Airbus' family of extra-ranged A321neos is particularly revolutionizing this trend because they can target smaller markets with lower demand while still earning profits — and airlines favor that flexibility.

Only 4 airlines will fly the 747 in 2025

Compounding industry changes have dampened the need for jumbo-sized planes like the 747, and only four passenger airlines will still fly it in 2025.

Cirium data through November shows Air China, Korean Air, Lufthansa, and Russian carrier Rossiya Airlines have about 19,0000 collective 747 flights scheduled next year. They'll cover 35 routes.

That's a 75% decrease from the nearly 76,000 scheduled 747 flights across 25 global carriers in 2019.

In 2024, about 19,600 of the double-decker flights were scheduled.

South Korea's Asiana Airlines and Middle Eastern carrier Saudia contributed to this year's total but ceased 747 passenger flights in March and September, respectively. Asiana Airlines merged with Korean Air in December.

Lufthansa's more than two dozen 747 jets are expected to cover 21 routes from Frankfurt in 2025, totaling about 12,000 flights, per Cirium. That's about 63% of next year's total scheduled 747 flights.

The airline is retrofitting the aircraft with new seats, an investment that signals a future need for the fleet.

By comparison, Air China's roughly 4,450 scheduled flights would cover four routes from Beijing, Korean's 1,900 scheduled flights would cover four routes from Seoul, and Rossiya's about 750 scheduled flights would cover six routes from Moscow.

A dozen 747 routes are scheduled to serve North America in 2025, including New York City, Newark, New Jersey, Boston, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Mexico City, and in Canada, Vancouver and Toronto.

The 747s are also expected to touch Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Argentina, Germany, South Korea, South Africa, and Singapore. Rossiya's 747 operations are expected to be limited to Russia.

The Russian airline is a subsidiary of flag carrier Aeroflot and restarted 747 operations in 2024, likely to take advantage of the 522-seat capacity as Western sanctions limit Russia's available planes.

Cirium data shows a majority of Rossiya's 2025 routes are set to fly to the country's Far East — suggesting the massive 747s are useful not just for tourists but also for cargo needed in the remote Russian region.

A new world's longest 747 passenger flight

When Korean stops flying its 747 to Atlanta in March, Lufthansa's 7,133-mile trek between Frankfurt and Buenos Aires would become the new longest passenger 747 flight by distance.

Korean's 747 flight between Seoul and New York would be the second-longest at 6,906 miles, followed by Air China's route between Beijing and New York at 6,838 miles.

Although not the longest by distance, Air China's New York service is the longest passenger 747 trek by flight time at about 17 hours. The longer-ranged Lufthansa and Korean routes reach about 14 hours and 16 hours, respectively.

Air China would run the shortest 747 flight in 2025, flying just two hours across 667 miles between Beijing and Shanghai. According to data from OAG, the route's nearly 7.8 million available seats ranked it among the world's top 10 busiest domestic flights in 2024.

The airline's other intra-China flights to Guangzhou and Shenzhen — and the only other 747 flights it operates besides Shanghai and New York — are about 1,200 miles, or roughly three and a half hours.

Rossiya is scheduled to fly a 747 route under 1,000 miles that hops between Moscow and Sochi, a popular beach town in southwest Russia along the Black Sea.

• Donald Trump renegotiated a deal with Boeing for a new Air Force One in his first term as president.
• Production delays and his reelection mean Trump is set to see the new plane come to life.
• Boeing says it has lost more than $2 billion in building the Next Air Force One.

Following years of delays, billions of dollars, and his return to the presidency, Donald Trump is set to fly on the new Air Force One after all.

The existing presidential jets — a military version of the Boeing 747-200 known as the VC-25A — are more than 30 years old. In 2015, the Air Force again chose Boeing to build two new planes, this time based on the larger 747-8. The VC-25B project is known as the "Next Air Force One."

After Trump was elected in 2016, he said the deal with Boeing didn't pass muster over fears about escalating costs.

He met with then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg and threatened to cancel the program if it exceeded $4 billion, sources told Defense One. To cut costs, Boeing agreed in 2018 to use two jets originally destined for a Russian airline that went bankrupt. The contract announced at the time was worth $3.9 billion.

Trump showed his red, white, and blue design for the plane to ABC in 2019. "I'm doing that for other presidents, not for me," he said.

He appeared enthusiastic: After all, Trump has his own Boeing 757 and once ran a short-lived airline called Trump Shuttle.

At first, the Next Air Force One was supposed to be delivered in 2024. So, if Trump was re-elected in 2020, he could have theoretically been on board the jet before the end of his presidency.

However, delays piled up, and the timeframe was pushed back to 2027.

It looked like Trump had little chance of flying on the new planes.

Yet Trump's victory in 2024 means he's now set to witness his deal come to fruition, particularly as Boeing continues to contend with production delays.

"Our team is fighting through a very, very challenging program - two very complex airplanes," Boeing's then-head of space and defense told Reuters in June of the project.

Light blue

It will look different from his original plans, though.

Last year, President Joe Biden selected a new light-blue color palette similar to every previous presidential jet since the Kennedy era.

The red, white, and blue livery would have caused more delays. The Air Force said a thermal study found that the dark blue would necessitate additional tests due to the added heat in some environments.

While the government is paying $3.9 billion for the new jets, Boeing has suffered from the Next Air Force One.

In a 2022 earnings call, then-CEO Dave Calhoun called it "a very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn't have taken."

That came after the company disclosed losses of $660 million. Boeing has since lost more than $2 billion in building the VC-25B.

Last year, it announced a charge of $482 million due to engineering changes. In the second quarter of this year, it increased that by $250 million due to further changes related to wiring and other structural requirements.

"Risk remains that we may record additional losses in future periods," Boeing said in its latest earnings report.

In 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that production problems included trying to place one of the jets onto a jack that wasn't designed to hold that much weight.

The report added that one Boeing employee wasn't properly credentialed to oversee the work, and another failed a routine drug test.

Mini bottles of tequila were also found on board one of the future presidential jets, The Journal reported.

Midair refueling

The current Air Force One is an extraordinary aircraft. It has 4,000 square feet of floor space on three levels, can feed 100 people at a time, and has a medical suite with a doctor on board at all times.

The plane can refuel in midair for unlimited flying, and onboard electronics are designed to withstand an electromagnetic pulse. In the event of an attack on the United States, it can function as a mobile command center.

The Next Air Force One will be more modern and even bigger. At 250 feet and 2 inches long, the 747-8 is the longest airliner in the world.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.