We create informative and engaging data visualizations.
Since its first flight in 1969, Boeing has delivered over 1,560 747s to customers all around the world. This animated map shows the delivery history the and top customers for the Boeing 747 since 1969.
The paths shown on the map are not the actual flight paths. For clarity, the most direct on-screen route between the Boeing Everett Factory and the customer's home country was used. For example, deliveries to the Asia-Pacific region would often fly in the opposite direction (across the Pacific instead of over Africa). Using the most direct on-screen paths avoids cases where paths go off the edge of the screen and re-emerge elsewhere. Polar routes were also avoided for the same reason.
Additionally, the map shows the customers' home airport as the delivery destination. Actual delivery destinations would have been based on the aircraft's first planned revenue flight, however this was beyond the scope of this animation.
In the last decade or so, the majority of 747s sold have been cargo versions of the 747-8 series. UPS has been one of Boeing's biggest customers for the 747-8 cargo version.
The detailed delivery history for every 747 built was found here. The world map geography used in the animation was found here