With the delivery of úlast Boeing 747 produced from history, Today we will review the legacy of the «Queen of the Skies» on Ecuador together with its different operators.
Post and photos by Diogo da ConceiçãO
cover photo: NL
after meás half a century of productionón, Boeing deliveredó el B747 número 1574 and the úlast in history. It is úLast B747-8F was delivered to Atlas Air and Apex Logistics under its parentícula N863GT, last 31 from January. This closedó a Capeíimportant title in the history of aviationón triedágetting out of a planeón tan icónico, histórich and recognizable.
history of the boeing 747 in Ecuador
A través of these más de 50 añserving passengers and cargo around the world, the B747 in all its different versions hit the ground in Ecuador, nextón we present a summary of the different aerolícompanies that once operated or currently operateís with the “Queen of the Skies”.
the european Air France, It was the first aerosolínea in arriving at said model Ecuador, but antes are neededó a placementón of a double layer as welláltica at the old airport Quito so that it is capable of receiving this aircraft of large proportions. The first flight arrivedó the 2 November 1977, at 10 from meñhe, from Lima with approximately 60 passengers. after almost 2 hours, the grandfatherón goneó to comply with the Bogot routeá – Caracas – french antilles – París.
This first flight of a Boeing 747 to Ecuador was operated by Boeing 747-128 registered as N28366 and later to beía F-BPVN. On 1993 marketíto AAR Corporation as N610AR and is currently stored/preserved within Oklahoma's Will Rogers World Airport, United States as part of the Aerom Civil InstituteéFAA dic.
some other aerosolíneas brought their 747s during the défalls of the 80s and 90s to Ecuador, What Aerolíneas Argentinas, Iberia, Lufthansa and even on some occasions the B747F of Martinair Cargo they operated during high season.
Subsequently, The passenger B747s stopped being regular and were replaced by somewhat smaller planes.ás smallños and efficient in order to make direct routes or without so many stops. But that didn't stopó aside the B747 freighters that were widely seen in these latitudes. Like the Boeing 747-200F and -300F of Atlas Air that during the first toñThe 2000s were frequently seen in Quito and Guayaquil sometimes painted entirely white or without títules and barely with his tail painted blue in order to carry out missions to Iraq. Later they began to arrive painted.
in october 2004, arrivaló for the first time to Quito a boeing 747-400, treatedó of arriving Polar Air Cargo N496MCó for “rescue” to an Atlas B743F that had a smallñthe mishap. The B747-400F of Cargolux spaghettién began to appear for Latacunga and sometimes in Quito when the Cotopaxi airport was closed.
The spyñwave Air Plus Comet brought to Quito in December 2004 a boeing 747-300 after several toñyou without seeing a queen of passengers, this with the purpose of bringing illegal immigrants deported from España.
For his part, other B747s freighters, who visited us in Ecuador during the déEach of the 2000s, both special and regular, were Southern Air's B742F., B742F de TradeWinds Cargo, B742F of CargoB, B744F de World Airways, B744F Jade Cargo, B742F de Kalitta Air, SkyExpress AirCargo B742F, Air Cargo Germany B744F and Emirates Sky Cargo B744F (Operated by Atlas Air).
Some surprise passenger queens were, the boeing 747-300 the Corsaire (In the GSEX) in May of 2005 on a flightárter with tourists from Paris Orly to Quito, this was the first time that a B747 was received with a sleeve at the old airport. The Boeing 747-400 from Air China to Quito operating for the Chinese Government in missionón diplomaática in March 2007.
The B747-200 and -400 of the spyñPullmantur Air wave in December 2006 and 2009 respectively, each one for the closure of the airlinesíairlines Air Madrid and Air Comet in order to rescue passengers who were stranded. And in June 2012 arrivaló a Guayaquil a boeing 747-400 from the Australian Qantas on a flight chartered by The Captain’s Choice Tour with tourists who seeían al Ecuador and especially at Gal Islandsápaid.
With the opening of Quito's new airport and having other arrival options such as Latacunga, new B747s began to visit us in Ecuador. Like the B747-8F of Etihad and Atlas, and the B744F & B748F of the Russian AirBridge Cargo to Quito, el B747-8F de Cargolux to Latacunga, así as wellén Southern Air B742Fs and Centurion and SkyLease Cargo B744Fs. On 2015, due to the retirement of the MD-11 from Martinair Cargo, this aerosolíNea beganó to fly with the KLM Cargo B747-400F that operate until today.
During official visits by heads of state, ministers or demás characters políticos in the capital's new airport tooén some have delighted us “Queens of Heaven”. For instance, in november 2016, of the B747-400 of Air China with President Xi Jinping and his entourage; in October of 2018, a B747-8BBJ of Qatar Amiri Flight on the Emir of Qatar and in May of 2019 a boeing 747-400 of Force AéSouth Korean area with the country's prime ministerís asiático.
For their part, the special visitors due to the earthquake in 2016 both in Quito and Guayaquil and Manta spaghettién included some Boeing 747, especially B747-400s freighters like the ones from Air China Cargo (UIO), China Cargo Airlines (UIO), National Airlines (GYE) and a TransAvia Export Boeing 747-300F from Belarus to Manta, and that later in 2020 we returníto visit but in Quito.
On 2018, we had a Boeing 747-400 based on Guayaquil, this was the one from Wamos Air registered EC-KXN that operatedó temporarily the GYE-MAD-GYE route to LATAM Ecuador.
Finally, the úLatest special visits due to loading season or for other reasons that have been seen in Quito son, Kalitta Air's B744F, Western Global, Korean Cargo, Magma Aviation, Saudia Charge, Singapore Airlines Cargo, UPS, Etihad Cargo, Cargologic, Air Cargo Global, and maybeás among all this text we are missing some más, a nice, there is no más that we will continue to enjoy the presence of this beautiful aircraft for many days.éevery máyes and say:
¡Whaté long live the Queen of Heaven!
Galería
¿Did they ever fly a Boeing 747 from or to Ecuador? Cuétell us in the comments…
I remember that one 747 of Air France on approach for the 17 from the old MS. My parents took me to see it, I was a small child but already attracted by airplanes. It was impressive!! Of those things that remain in your memory forever. I remember too, already living in Andalusia, have seen a 747F on about two occasions(probably 742F) of Air France Cargo on the platform of the FAE Air Base, it's more, almost certainly one of the visits was when a C-130 of the FAE took off towards GYE with the remains of President Roldós. thanks Nicholas, excellent blog.
Thank you very much Esteban for your contribution.! That landing by 17 it was the first time he came?
thanks Nicholas. Indeed; I even remember advertising in El Comercio that I cut with the expectation of the soon coming. Supongo que la campaña hizo que mucha gente vaya al aeropuerto a querer conocer el «jumbo».
Unbelievable that his first landing was right by the 17, even bigger challenge.
Apologies! my mistake. It was for the 35; I got confused.
Thanks anyway for the information!
In Guayaquil. Come in 1999 and 2009 that I worked for Asofloraustro, from the Expoflores union, I could appreciate on the track of the JJO beautiful 747 load, like those of Kalitta Air, Atlas Air and Martinair, of passengers I remember a long time ago the Wamos.
When I was a boy I saw the 747 of Pan Am that took off from GYE, beautiful airplanes thank God I was able to see live and direct working in the air or from my provoleged window of my house since I was very young, when they took off from 21.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.! In fact, the 747 de Wamos has been the last Boeing 747 in operating in Ecuador that I remember.
excellent info, very interesting especially the article of the first flight operated by Air France. Nicolas, it would be amazing to have a similar article with information about the historical operation of Air France in Ecuador., I've tried searching online and can't find anything., I've even seen a video of 1999 where you can see an AF A340 in Quito, I imagine that also making a stopover in Bogota before returning to Paris.
It seems that you needed to search a little more 😀 https://www.nlarenas.com/2019/04/la-historia-de-air-france-en-ecuador/