Lufthansa is sending one of its Boeing 747 aircraft to the Mojave desert. The aircraft, D-ABVP, is a 23.7-year-old Boeing 747-400 that last flew in April of this year. The aircraft was one of the 747s that flew to New Zealand to repatriate stranded Germans.

Many many Boeing 747s have been retired from the global fleet since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the entire remaining fleets of KLM, Qantas, and British Airways. While Lufthansa has retired some Boeing 747-400s early, it has not said goodbye to the whole fleet yet.

The vast majority of Lufthansa’s Boeing 747 fleet has remained firmly on the ground over the past half a year or so. Some were sent to Twente in the Netherlands. However, they made headlines earlier this month when it was revealed that they couldn’t depart the airport as it lacked the proper permit.

Now, the first aircraft has departed, and the Boeing 747s are beginning to fly to their new homes. D-ABVP was one of these aircraft, leaving Twente yesterday. As the plane had to be light to depart from the airport, it made a short flight to its former Frankfurt home where it spent the night.

At 12:05 this afternoon, D-ABVP departed for Bangor, an airport in the United States’ top right corner. Following a technical stop, it will carry on its journey to Mojave Air And Space Port, home to previously scrapped Lufthansa Boeing 747s. A former corsair Boeing 747 completed a similar journey earlier this year.