Lufthansa has eight remaining 747-400s, all of which are active. This summer, they'll be used on seven routes from Frankfurt: Bengaluru, Delhi, Palma, Seoul, Shanghai, Toronto, and Vancouver. Yes, you read that right: Frankfurt to Palma, Majorca, just 778 miles (1,252 km) away, will again see the 747-400, but only temporarily.

Lufthansa's 747-400s

With an average age of 22.9 years, the 747-400 is Lufthansa's second-oldest widebody, according to ch-aviation.com. At 23.4 years, only the A340-300 is older. If the German giant's entire fleet is examined, the 747-400 is the third-oldest, behind the A321-100 (27.2 years) and A340-300.

Lufthansa's 747-400s and 747-8s have a similar number of seats: 371 and 364 respectively. But the 747-400 is considerably less premium-heavy. There are 67 seats in business, 32 in premium economy, and 272 in economy. In contrast, its 747-8s have eight first class seats, 80 in business, 32 in premium economy, and 244 in economy.

Stay aware: Sign up for my weekly new routes newsletter.

Seven summer routes

The northern summer season runs from March 26th and October 28th. In this period, the following seven routes will operate, five of which are entirely by the 747-400. They include Shanghai, its longest route by the variant, at 5,516 miles (8,877 km) as the crow flies. Rerouting to avoid Russian airspace extends it by about 14% to around 6,300 miles (10,138 km).

What about Palma?

Rarely has Lufthansa used widebodies to Palma. It deployed the 747-8 very briefly in the summers of 2021 and 2022, both before the 747-400 returned to service, to benefit from the extra uplift as a consequence of pent-up demand.

The 747-400 is set to operate on April 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd. Easter falls in April this year, and it is an important month for school holidays. When writing, all four roundtrips are bookable, with the cheapest one-way from Frankfurt being €146 ($155).

The schedule is as follows:

• Frankfurt to Palma: LH1158, 12:30-14:35 (2h 5m block time)
• Palma to Frankfurt: LH1159, 16:05-18:25 (2h 20m)

10 routes in summer 2019

In the pre-pandemic summer 2019, four summers ago, Lufthansa used the 747-400 on 10 routes from Frankfurt (excluding one-offs and very time-limited services). They were Denver, Mumbai, Orlando, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Toronto, and Vancouver. Only four of these will see the aging quadjet this summer.

• 

  Lufthansa

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  LH/DLH

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport

  Year Founded:

  1953

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  Airline Group:

  Lufthansa Group

  CEO:

  Carsten Spohr

  Country:

  Germany