Lufthansa 747-400 heads to Tulsa for disassembly

A Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 is making its way to Tulsa, where it will be disassembled at a facility near the Tulsa International Airport, the Tulsa World reports.

The work will be done by a division of the German airline that has a service center at the airport.

"At a certain point we have to renew our fleet," Dirk Ripa, president and CEO of Lufthansa Technik Component Services, says to the World.

The World writes "the work is part of a major expansion project at Lufthansa Technik Component Services, which has added about 30 employees in the last year. In the coming years, the company plans to add about 60 more employees, and possibly more."

Lufthansa Technik Component Services performs work for a number of airlines. Among the divisions services: repairing commercial aircraft components, with a specialization in hydraulic repairs, pneumatic parts and avionics equipment.

As for Lufthansa, it was the launch customers for Boeing's newest passenger version of the 747 -- the 747-8 Intercontinental. The carrier flew the first 747-8 flight with paying customers on June 1, debuting the jet on its route between Frankfurt and Washington Dulles. Lufthansa currently has nine 747-8s in its fleet with another 10 on order.

Lufthansa currently has about 20 of the older-model 747-400s in its fleet, with plans to gradually phase out those jets over the next decade.