End of the line and into the air for the last 747 Boeing will build

The final Boeing 747 to be assembled has left Everett’s Paine Field.

The jumbo jet, a 747-8 freighter operated by cargo carrier Atlas Air, departed after 8 a.m. Wednesday. It is the last of its kind, built at Boeing’s mammoth facility in Everett where the first 747 took shape in the late 1960s.

FOR MORE ON BOEING’S LAST “Queen of the Skies”

• The last 747: Boeing workers reflect on an iconic plane like no other
• In photos: The assembly and flight of the final Boeing 747
• Timeline: Look at how the Boeing 747 has changed since 1968

• Building Boeing’s last 747: The nighttime drama of the final big lift

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On Tuesday, thousands of former and current Boeing employees along with actor and pilot John Travolta, airline executives, reporters and many others gathered in a ceremony to celebrate the last rollout of the 747. Marking the occasion, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr offered a sentiment shared by many there, that Boeing’s “Queen of the Skies” remains a “symbol of the world, which the 747 has made substantially smaller.”

The last 747 left Everett at 8:19 a.m. bound for Cincinnati.

Boeing showcased its goodbye to the “Queen of the Skies” on Twitter and Facebook.