We will review the five rarest flights that you can buy a ticket to ride in the ever-increasingly short list of passenger Boeing 747 itineraries around the world. Of the select few carriers that still fly the venerable old “Queen of the Skies,” as the 747 is known, the operators to make our list include: Korean Air, 
Lufthansa, and Rossiya Airlines. These airlines are currently queueing for long-awaited replacements as their faithful jumbo jets continue to serve customers.
Despite each fleet sharing the 747 type as a common airframe, they also fly different variants of varying ages. Rossiya Airlines and Lufthansa fly the older 747-400. Meanwhile, Korean Air has relatively new 747-8I models on its flightline. In terms of replacement, this also varies with Lufthansa and Korean Air slated to receive the long-overdue 777X when it clears certification. However, with sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, Rossiya Airlines’s next step is less clear.
The destinations that these rare birds fly to and from include Western Russia, Germany, the United States, Korea, and Japan. Mirroring the disparity between their destinations, the distances these vintage airframes cover on a single departure vary from just several hundred miles to a few thousand. Now let’s go down the list from most frequent to least frequent and explore the rarest 747 routes in the world, as told by data from Cirium.
5
Korean Air: Incheon To Taipei
14 Round Trips In 2025 Over 906 Miles Flown By The 747-8I
Just once every few weeks, a giant jet of the Korean Air fleet takes to the air, bound from 
Incheon International Airport (ICN) to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE). The capital city of Taiwan is not far from the shores of Korea, but the high density of flyers justifies the use of a jumbo jet to serve the route. The 747-8I models operated by Korean Air are some of the last passenger-configured models to ever leave the Boeing Everett plant before the line was shut down in 2023.
Korean Air is a close partner with 
Boeing, and while it is not the launch customer for the 777X, the largest order in the airline’s history was made for 737 MAX and 777X airframes just this year. Korean Air Aerospace is part of the same corporate group as the airline and operates both manufacturing and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities. The company produces license-built defense products from Boeing for the Korean Armed Forces, as well as original designs.
The airline has a few examples of the Airbus A380 still on its flight line, serving alongside Boeing’s iconic double-decker. Neither are expected to survive the economics of the present-day aviation market much longer, with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X twinjets far outperforming them on the balance sheets.
4
Korean Air: Incheon To Tokyo
7 Round Trips In 2025 Over 784 Miles Flown By The 747-8I
Just about every two months or so, a blue-liveried jumbo sets off from Incheon to 
Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) with its hundreds of business and leisure flyers inside the cavernous fuselage. This route is even shorter than the Taipei itinerary operated by Korean Air, but connects two of the busiest airports in the world, not to mention the Asia-Pacific region. The veteran 747s flying this leg are not as old as some of their compatriots around the world, but they are still expected to be phased out in favor of the upcoming 777X as soon as Boeing can begin deliveries.
Public data available on Planespotters.net shows that Korean Air has just 16 remaining 747 airframes in its inventory. The forthcoming 777X will replace the outgoing double-decker, but with the program several years behind schedule, no deliveries are expected before 2026. The airline is the flag carrier of Korea and also services the national government’s 747, akin to America’s own Air Force One.
3
Rossiya Airlines: Moscow To Anadyr
7 Round Trips In 2025 Over 3,852 Miles Flown By The 747-400
This is a fittingly long flight plan for one of the world’s best long-haul airliners. The transcontinental route connects two major urban centers in the Eastern and Western regions of the vast territory held by the Russian Federation. The weary 747-400 has soldiered on despite the sanctions against Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Despite those efforts, a trickle of spare parts continues to flow through and keep the majestic Boeing bird in the air.
Just once every several weeks, the Rossiya Airlines 747-400 departs from 
Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) on its way to Anadyr Airport (DYR). The flight itself is a long journey and bridges the expanse of virtually impassable tundra and wilderness that separates the two cities. The region surrounding DYR is sparsely populated, and the airfield serves as a consolidated travel center for the population in the region. The field is also utilized by Russian Air Force units.
The unrelenting siege of Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces has not only meant increasing sanctions in the years since it began in 2022, but also measures against the Russian economy’s global ties. The aviation market has been hit harder than most sectors, as 90% of the commercial aircraft in service are still Airbus or Boeing-origin designs. The industry has managed to procure a limited supply of parts and materials from the handful of friendly nations still willing to do business with them. That has still meant the grounding of many planes and limited operations of those that are still airworthy.
2
Lufthansa: Frankfurt To Miami
4 Round Trips In 2025 Over 4,833 Miles Flown By The 747-400
The single Lufthansa entry on this list is also the longest, connecting the major German city of Frankfurt with the American beach city of Miami. The legacy jumbo jet only makes the journey a few times a year between 
Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and 
Miami International Airport (MIA). Lufthansa has continued to fly its aging double-deckers due to the 77X program delays, and will replace their final examples as soon as the new twinjet arrives.
Lufthansa is the launch customer for the world’s largest twinjet, the 777X, which is several years behind schedule due to a myriad of challenges in the design and certification cycles. The aircraft features a host of innovative technologies, including industry-first folding wingtips and the largest turbofans ever made, the enormous GE9X engines. It is also the first commercial plane to receive larger windows as a successor variant that is not a clean-sheet design.
The German flag-carrier still has nearly 30 examples of the 747 series in its stables, and several Airbus A380 “Super Jumbos” on the roster as well, according to Planespotters.net. The carrier has reportedly been very impatient as of late with the endlessly sliding 777X delivery date, now expected next year at the very earliest. The airline flies numerous long-haul itineraries to destinations in virtually every corner of the globe. The need for a high-capacity, long-legged airliner is critical to the Lufthansa network.
1
Rossiya Airlines: Moscow To Kaliningrad
2 Round Trips In 2025 Over 671 Miles Flown By The 747-400
The rarest flight in the world flown by a 747 today is between the capital of Russia, Moscow, and the Baltic Sea coastal city of Kaliningrad. The 747 only completes the trek twice a year, and the flight itself is also the shortest on this list, at under 700 miles. The air bridge does, however, represent a critical element of Russian infrastructure as a link between the nation’s cultural, governmental, and economic centers, and the only city situated on the Baltic coast that Russia controls.
The largely landlocked nation maintains a heavy strategic and economic focus on its few coastal cities. The relatively large Navy that survived the fall of the Soviet Union and the merchant marine fleet have been diminishing in the years since. The conflict with Ukraine, in particular, has taken a heavy toll on Russian naval vessels and shipping in the Black Sea, making the Baltic an even more critical location.
It’s unclear what plane may succeed the slowly deteriorating 747-400s trapped beyond the reach of their maker in Rossiya Airline’s stables. It has been said that a government-led effort is aiming to restart Ilyushin Il-96 production, making it the most probable replacement under the current circumstances. The quadjet is of Soviet vintage and far smaller than the 747 but is the closest match to fill the shoes left behind by the “Queen of the Skies” after her final touchdown on Russian soil.
