If you thought the Airbus A380 was huge, you were right up until yesterday, when Boeing unveiled the brand new 747-8 Intercontinental, a near-supersonic massive commercial airliner that can fly at speeds of up to Mach 0.98, or 7 knots shy of breaking the sound barrier. Boeing has had the 747-8 in tests for months (with a freighter version of the aircraft already logged 1700 hours of flight time,) and in design for years, with the project running in parallel to the 787 Dreamliner project, both of which represent the next generation of Boeing's airline fleet. 

The 747-8 is a wide-body airliner that, when completed, will be able to carry close to 500 passengers on-board There are already two airlines with orders in for the 747-8, including Lufthansa and Korean Air.

[via Wired]