Once one of the world's foremost operators of the iconic Boeing 747 jumbo jetliner, Japan Airlines International has retired its last two 747s, ending the airline's storied run with the plane, reported The Wall Street Journal. JAL is the latest carrier to retire its fleet of 747s in favour of newer, more fuel-efficient models. Meanwhile, executives at Boeing are trying hard to reverse the 747's flight into the sunset. Last month, in a splashy ceremony at its massive Everett, Washington factory, Boeing unveiled its latest jumbo jet, dubbed the 747-8 Intercontinental. A freighter version made its debut last year and is undergoing flight tests. From the outside, the 747-8 is clearly a close cousin of the original 1970 version. But the latest model is 18 feet longer than the previous 747-400; it includes a new wing design, the same General Electric (GE) engines and new cockpit technologies being used on the coming 787 Dreamliner. In a three-class configuration, the newest 747 can seat about 470 passengers, as many as some variants of the current 777. It is smaller than the double-decker Airbus A380, which can seat 525 or as many as 850 depending on the configuration. But the 747-8 has been slow to win airline orders, with just two operators signed up so far. Deutsche Lufthansa has ordered 20 and Korean Air Lines has five on the books. Boeing officials say they are confident that once the plane proves itself during flight tests and early commercial use, other airlines will place orders. JAL was an early customer of the 747, receiving its first four-engine wide-body from Boeing in 1970, shortly after the first of the planes entered service, according to the airline. Over the next 40 years, the airline would own and operate 112 of the planes, including all four variants of the jet - each one introduced with various performance and passenger-configuration improvements. But in January 2010 ,JAL accelerated its plans to retire the 747s after the carrier entered bankruptcy protection.(cna)