Takeoff! Boeing's next-gen 747 ready for passengers

EVERETT, Wash.--It was years in the making, but today, Boeing and Lufthansa held a delivery event that changes aviation forever. The event marked the delivery of the first 747-8 Intercontinental into an airline's hands. And that means that within a month, the first paying passengers will be climbing aboard this giant new airplane. Lufthansa plans to integrate this plane into its long-haul routes on June 1, and has already contracted for a total of 20 of the new planes.

Seen here, the plane is about to takeoff for its flight to Germany, where Lufthansa will do final preparations for its inaugural commercial flight next month.

The next-generation 747, the 747-8 Intercontinental, is nose up.

The plane lifts off on its way to Frankfurt. Boeing first unveiled the 747-8 Intercontinental on February 13, 2011, but it hadn't handed one of the planes over to an airline customer until today.

A look up at the nose of Lufthansa's first 747-8 Intercontinental. The plane is said to offer significant improvements for carriers in terms of fuel efficiency and noise. Boeing has 120 orders for the new plane.

Lufthansa's first 747-8 Intercontinental, seen on the tarmac outside Boeing's Future of Flight facility.

A look down at the plane's left wing, featuring two of its four General Electric GEnx 2B engines, as well as its curved wing that helps with its overall fuel efficiency.

A look at the plane's cockpit.

A close-up look at the controls of a 747-8 Intercontinental.

The cockpit of the 747-8 Intercontinental, like some other long-haul planes, has four seats, allowing a crew of three and one observer.

Lufthansa is starting an overhaul of the configuration of its long-haul planes. The new 747, and some of its other planes, including the A380, will have just eight first class seats, and a much greater emphasis on business class.

This is one of the first class seats folded flat and set up as a full bed.

On the new 747-8 Intercontinental, first class is located in the nose of the airplane. Business class is located both behind first class, and in the plane's extended upper deck.

Two side-by-side first class seats can have a barrier up between them, or can have the barrier down if two people are traveling together.

Here, we see the barrier down between two first-class seats.

This is a look through the main cabin business class section. On this 747-8 Intercontinental, there are 92 business class seats, as well as eight first class and 258 economy seats.

A look at the upper deck business class section.

The new 747-8 Intercontinental is said to feature larger overhead bins than most of today's planes.

A look at a business class seat aboard Lufthansa's first 747-8 Intercontinental set up as a fully-flat bed.

A look at two business class seats, as configured for daytime flight.

The 747-8 Intercontinental features a crew rest cabin behind a locked door in the upper deck of the plane.

A look back at the main economy class cabin aboard Lufthansa's first 747-8 Intercontinental.

A look at the back of the economy class seats, each of which has its own video screen.

A look down the stairway from the upper deck aboard the 747-8 Intercontinental.

A look up the same stairway from the main deck.

One amenity of the new 747-8 Intercontinental is windows that can be instantly changed from fully open to brightly shaded or to fully dark. Here, we see the shade transitioning from shaded to dark.

Here, we see the shade dropping down, covering the open window.

At Boeing and Lufthansa's event today, visitors were greeted with a red carpet as crews prepared the plane for its first flight to Frankfurt.

After a signing ceremony featuring executives from Boeing and Lufthansa, everyone was invited to see the airplane.

A look at the giant's airplanes main set of landing gears.

Lufthansa executive vice president of group fleet management Nico Buchholz photographs his new airplane's engine.

A look at the rear of one of the plane's four GEnx 2B engines.

Here we see two of the plane's four GEnx 2B engines, in this case on the right wing.

The new 747's aerodynamic wing design features this curved wingtip, helping to offer the plane, and its owners, greater fuel efficiency than most long-haul airplanes.

At the ceremony, Lufthansa executives and flight crew members pose for photographs in front of their new airplane.

Senior vice president and general manager of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Pat Shanahan shows off the ceremonial key for the new 747-8 Intercontinental as he prepares to hand it over to Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines.

Lufthansa's new 747 taxis out from the Future of Flight tarmac in preparation for takeoff.