Reference
Boeing 747-8F
Largest series-built freighter, with a hinging nose. Payload, hold, door and the job it usually flies are below.
Production has ended. Boeing handed over the last 747 in January 2023; the fleet is still in front-line cargo work.
- Structural payload
- 134,200 kg
- Hold volume
- 857 m³
- Hold length × width × height
- 54.30 × 4.86 × 3.04 m
- Main cargo door
- 3.40 × 3.12 m
How the Boeing 747-8F is used
The largest freighter built in series, and the only Western freighter with a hinging nose door. Cargo loads straight along the centreline instead of turning through a side opening.
That nose door is why the 747 freighter has moved outsize pieces for fifty years: a load too long for a side door can still go in. The main deck takes full-height pallets. Lower holds take containerised freight.
Cargo it usually takes
How this family is arranged
- The main deck is cleared of cabin fittings and floored for pallets and containers. A cargo door in the forward or aft fuselage takes a full-height pallet.
- Powered rollers and a ball mat let one handler push a loaded pallet into place instead of lifting it.
- Floor locks catch the pallet base and hold the load in flight, so separate lashing is not required for a standard unit.
- A rigid barrier sits behind the flight deck. Smoke detection and suppression cover the cargo deck.
- Lower holds stay under the main deck and take the same LD containers a passenger aircraft carries.
Why operators pick it
- Payload and volume are the highest in air freight, which is what makes a long-haul cargo flight pay.
- Standard ULDs are built away from the aircraft and lifted aboard in minutes.
- Main-deck height takes tall pieces that a belly hold cannot accept.
- Range with a full load covers an intercontinental sector without a fuel stop.
Settle these points before you book
- It needs a main-deck loader and a stand that can take a widebody, so fewer airports can handle it.
- A full structural payload usually shortens the sector. Payload and range move against each other.
- Capacity sits at a few hubs, so the routing may add a road leg at either end.