On Monday, Lufthansa flew out the last Boeing 747-400 parked in Enschede-Twente with the D-ABTL. This also ends a curious chapter, because the group had to wrestle for the permits for the starts.

The background to this is that Twente Airport is the terminus for many aircraft. The Boeing 747 is approved for landings, but not for take-offs. That wasn't really taken into account at the time of Long Time Storage. The consequence of this was that special permits had to be obtained and the Dutch authorities initially refused them.

The crane group had six Boeing 747-400 parked at this airport. These were then flown out one by one after a real soap opera between the airport and the authorities. Lufthansa is again using this type of machine commercially.