Aircraft
Low-time Retired Boeing BBJ 747-8 Scrapped
Boeing 747-8 scrapped at one of the world’s largest aircraft boneyards.
Boeing 747-8

Ten years after delivery and fewer than 50 flight hours of service, the first Boeing 747-8 to be scrapped—a BBJ variant ordered by the Saudi Arabian government—was dismantled on Monday, according to digital aviation hub Aerotime.

The aircraft, N458BJ, was intended for use by Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz, who died unexpectedly in 2011, some nine months before the scheduled delivery. Five months after manufacture in 2012 the aircraft was ferried to EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg Airport (LFSB) for scheduled interior completion. No reports on the extent of work performed subsequently appeared, and the jumbo BBJ had remained at LFSB in the decade since, marketed sporadically for about $95 million; the Saudis reportedly paid more than $300 million for the green aircraft.