On Tuesday, January 31, the last Boeing 747 aircraft was handed over to the cargo carrier Atlas Air at the American company's plant in Washington state, reports the Financial Times..

When it was unveiled at the Paris Air Show in 1969, this aircraft captured the spirit of the jet age and, with its power, efficiency and reach, helped bring commercial flying to the masses..

“It democratized air travel. The 747 shrank the world,” says Boeing historian Michael Lombardi..

The first commercial 747 was manufactured for the American airline Pan American World Airways in 1970 and operated on the New York-London route and became legendary..

Over five decades, Boeing has built 1,574 747s for over 100 customers.. The tail of a six-story-high plane travels the length of three football fields per second.. Its largest version could carry over 500 passengers..

At the time of its inception, the Boeing 747 was the largest, heaviest and most spacious passenger aircraft, and remained so for another 36 years - until the development of the Airbus A380, the first flight of which took place in 2005.

After the market gradually shifted to more efficient twin-engine jets in the 1980s, Boeing cut back on production of the four-engine 747..

Boeing delivered its last passenger-carrying aircraft to Korean Air in 2017, although the aircraft's nose-loading option made it popular with carriers for some time..

The latest production aircraft of this model has a payload capacity of 133.1 tons, enough to carry 10,699 gold bars, the airline said..

The fact that the company has manufactured the last 747th, Boeing announced on December 6. On this day, the company completed the assembly of the aircraft at the plant in Everett, and also announced that it would put the vessel into operation and transfer it to Atlas Air in January 2023..