Private 747 jumbo jet sold for scrap after just 30 hours in the air

One of only 10 privately owned 747 jumbo jets has been sold for parts, after fewer than 16 recorded flights. Photo / Wing Technology, CC

A privately owned 747 jumbo jet is being sold for parts after just 30 hours in the air.

This sorry history for the ultra-luxury jet liner includes a ten year stint in ground storage at the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg on the French-Swiss border, after the owner deferred delivery.

The aircraft, which CNN reported was reserved for a member of the Saudi Royal family, recorded just 16 flights.

After almost a decade in storage it was rebought by Boeing last April and relocated to their plant in Renton, Washington State. Putting the aircraft up for sale “empty... ready for conversion”, the practically new aircraft was listed at a fraction of its original price.

N458BJ was re-registered from a private owner in Jeddah to Boeing, last year. After no buyers were found the $560 million aircraft is now in a scrapheap, practically unused.

Aircraft service records from resellers Spectrum Aerospace show a total usage time of less than 30 hours spent flying - minus the 11-hour flight back to Renton.

A private jumbo jet

While Boeing is best known for commercial jet airliners there is a considerable market for remodelling their aircraft as private business jets.

There have been around 250 sales of “Boeing Business Jets” (BBJs) but the majority of these are narrow-body 737s, converted for private use.

There are thought to be nine other BBJ 747-8 in private ownership. The 4-engined, double-decker plane was the largest ever built by the US aircraft manufacturer.

Beyond the initial price tag - the cost of operating a jumbo jet is prohibitively expensive. An airline 747 has annual running and maintenance costs of around $19 million, according to the National Business Aviation Association.

Fit out for a BBJ 747 can take up to four years and cost upwards of $50 million. Photo / Boeing

"Empty... ready for conversion": The luxurious fit-out was never completed. Photo / screenshot, spectrumaerospace.net

Boeing stopped production of the 747-8 superjumbos last year with the final aircraft rolling off the factory line on December 6.

Despite a last recorded price of $560 million, when the aircraft went up for auction last year it failed to meet a reserve of $90 million.

Few people are buying 747s, however the aviation parts market has taken off.

With many cargo operators relying on an aging fleet of 747s, the parts are more likely to have a future flying parcels rather than Saudi royals.

The sad story of N458BJ

Having been scheduled for delivery in 2012, the BBJ 747 had a bright future ahead of it.

However, the intended owner never took delivery of the aircraft. The plane’s eventual user, thought to be Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia died in 2011 just months before N458BJ was ready for delivery.

And so the jumbo was left in limbo for 10 years near Basel.

The glamorous interior and fit out scheduled at the EuroAirport were never completed.

Luxury interiors and fit-out for a jumbo jet can take anywhere up to 4 years to complete and cost an additional $60million. In 2019, design firm Cabinet Alberto Pinto were tasked with designing the interiors of one of the last BBJ 747-8is.

“Such a project is a dream come true that happens only once or twice in a designer’s lifetime. In a way, this is a landmark in aviation history,” Yves Pickardt told Executive Traveller.

Photos of the aircraft from the beginning of the year show that the plane has already begun being stripped for parts.