In April 2009, Lion Air took delivery of two used Boeing 747-400s. The largest aircraft the airline would ever operate, the Indonesian carrier would go on to use them for domestic service from its Jakarta base to Medan, Batam, Surabaya, Denpasar, and Makassar, among other routes. Internationally, the jumbo jets would also take pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. The 747s would leave the Lion Air fleet in 2019, replaced by the A330neo. So what happened to these quad jets?
Pre-Lion Air life
Before we discuss the fate of these jets, let’s look at their pre-Lion Air life.
The two aircraft were registered in Indonesia as PK-LHF and PK-LHG but started their service lives in 1989 with Singapore Airlines as 9V-SMC and 9V-SME, respectively. While arriving around six months apart, the two jumbo jets lived fairly parallel lives over the course of 30 years – as if they were an old married couple. How romantic.
One of the jets would spend a surprisingly long stretch of time at Singapore Airlines, staying with the airline until 2004. The other, while being owned by Singapore Airlines, was leased out to Air China in 1994 for three years before going back to Singapore. It was also retired from Singapore Airlines in 2004.
Both jets then went to Air Atlanta Icelandic, where they would be leased out to airlines like Iberia and Hong Kong carrier Oasis. Then, in 2008, the jets became the property of famous Airbus A340 customer, the Boeing Aircraft Holding Company (that’s not a typo).
They finally joined the Lion Air fleet in 2009.
Service with Lion Air
As mentioned in the introduction, the aircraft would operate annual pilgrimage flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for Muslims to make their journey to Mecca. In terms of absolute numbers, Indonesia has the largest population of Muslims anywhere in the world. Thus it makes sense that these jumbo jets would be deployed on this route.
At various points in their Lion Air-life, the jets were leased out to Saudi Arabia’s flynas and Nas Air.
Apart from these long-haul journeys, the 747s remained close to home, flying domestic services to various Indonesian cities out of their Jakarta base. Destinations include Medan, Batam, Surabaya, Denpasar, and Makassar, among others.
“The airline was proud to operate the plane dubbed ‘Queen of the Skies’ for the last 10 years to serve domestic commercial flights,” said a Lion Air spokesman.
Life after Lion Air
When it comes to the jets’ final years, the information gets a little scrambled, especially when it comes to timeline. Data from Planespotters.net indicate that PK-LHF was retired sometime around 2018 and converted into a restaurant. PK-LHG was withdrawn from use at the end of 2018. The problem with both of these points is that dozens of media outlets, including Simple Flying, reported on the final retirement of the type in March 2019, specifically naming PK-LHG.
However, we do have a rough idea of where the jets are now. One aircraft, PK-LHF, was disassembled and, as Planespotters.net stated, turned into a restaurant. Well, at least that was the plan. Images posted by Indonesian media show that the aircraft was in the process of being converted into a fast-food restaurant as of April 2019. Broken up previously, the jet had to be stitched back together and was sitting in what looked like an abandoned lot surrounded by junk (entirely unbefitting of a majestic 747, of course). The video below (also from 2019) gives a close-up view of the jet (it’s a lengthy video, and a good view is offered at 3:31-4:11).
Of course, photos can be deceiving at perhaps it has been an ongoing work in progress. At this time, we have no updated information.
The fate of PK-LHG, on the other hand, was much more ‘final’ as it is listed as having been “broken up” in October of 2020.
Did you ever have a chance to fly on Lion Air’s Boeing 747-400s? Let us know in the comments!
.jpg){kind=link}