If you want the figures for TAA flights and possibly Ansett then I suggest you contact the TAA Museum at Airport West in Melbourne. I inform you that TAA created a world record for over 200 pax on the B727 which normally carried around 150. Also the passengers had no or very little baggage and yes some pets were carried. Firstly - the way that TAA was able to seat so many people was that the aircraft were equipped with seats that could not only be converted to First Class but also to all economy - just by simply removing and repositioning armrests. Secondly - if you folded the armrests back then it was easy to fit 4 people in three seats and extend seatbelts and use seatbelt extenders (as they do for lets say "wide body pax.") Add to that infant seat belts for children and you increase passenger load. Another thing to remember is that it was a National Emergency and concessions were made. Also TAA and Qantas were in a position where the Government could combine their operations as part of a transport division of the RAAF. My understanding is that QF indeed carried around 700 on the B747-200. With no baggage or cargo it makes it even easier. You might also be interested to know that cartons of Stubbies shorts for males and blue dresses for women of all ages were sent to Darwin to clothe the evacuees. Great
PR exercise for an Aussie clothing manufactuer at the time. The evacuation of people from Darwin continued for a couple of months and most if not all were transported by the use of government warrants ( think of them as open cheques for each person to relocate to relatives away from Darwin.)