AFP/Washington

The Boeing 747-8 freighter, which made its first test flight at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, on Monday, is the largest jumbo jet Boeing has built

US aerospace giant Boeing’s newest version of its 747 jumbo jet took to the skies for the first time on Monday, the company said.
The 747-8 is Boeing’s answer to the A380, the super-jumbo aircraft made by European rival Airbus.
Boeing claims the high-capacity 747-8 Freighter will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance.
It provides customers with 16% more revenue cargo volume compared with the 747-400 freighter, the company says.
A commercial passenger version, the 747-8 Intercontinental, is also under development.
The 747-8 Freighter destined for launch customer Cargolux, a Luxembourg-based cargo airline, taxied down a runway at Paine Field Airport in Everett, Washington state, and lifted off at 12:39pm (1539 GMT), a Boeing webcast showed.
The airport is home to the Boeing manufacturing plant for the 747, 767, 777, and the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, whose advanced technologies the new 747-8 shares.
Pilots Mark Feuerstein and Thomas Imrich have about “three to four hours to test out this airplane for the first time,” a Boeing spokesman said on the video.
They may decide to cut the flight short because the takeoff had been delayed by inclement weather and they would want to land before nightfall, the spokesman said.
Like the 787 Dreamliner programme, the 747-8 programme has been plagued by delays due to production problems and a machinists strike.
First deliveries initially slated for late 2009 are now set for the fourth quarter of 2010.