On October 12, 2011, Cargolux operated the first commercial flight of the newest version of the Queen of the Skies, the 747-8. While the flight only carried freight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Luxembourg, both Boeing and Cargolux could not be any less excited. The then-president and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Jim Albaugh said that the 747-8 Freighter was “truly the Queen of the Skies for the 21st Century”. Frank Reimen, who was then the CEO of Cargolux, added that the company was looking “forward to the efficiency and environmental benefits that come with this great airplane”. A year later, on June 1, 2012, Lufthansa introduced the Boeing 747-8I, a passenger version of the quad-jet, dubbed the Intercontinental.
Yet the Queen’s newest iteration never really took off.
