B744 seating capacity

[sailor joe]

Can someone please tell me the maximum certified passenger capacity of the B747-400? Thanks in advance.

[mavrik1]

I think around 420-450 would be a ball park once the sling shot mod is carried out. All e/y seats installed at minimium pitch between seats,
not much left to put in the holds.
QF moved 476 out of Darwin in the 80's as part of a vacuation before cyclone tracey hit.
Someone will have a exact number im sure.

[sailor joe]

Thanks. It must be more. I hear JAL fits about 520 on domestic routes.

[Rainboe]

You are correct. I seem to recall figures of 550 being mentioned? I think Qantas had the record lifting out of Darwin after the great cyclone.

[mavrik1]

Darwin must of been with a 200 series

[Fatter Bastard]

Cyclone Tracy was on Xmas Eve 1974. The -400 did not grace the skies until around '89.

[Rainboe]

Yes, one is aware of that having flown the thing for 8 years, and the 100/200 for 10 years! It was merely a conversational quip out of interest, but as ever the forum is always ready to pounce on the merest whiff of perceived factual error! I wasn't saying the 400 did the Darwin business, just that an identical size fuselage carried a good deal more, once, in the long past. It's called 'chat'.

The A380 is the machine now, anyway.

[sinkingship]

Maximum Number Of Occupants
PASSENGER
The total number of persons carried, including crew, shall not exceed 678, and
shall not exceed the number for which seating accommodation approved for
take-off and landing is provided.
Children who are under the age of two years, and who are carried in the arms of
passengers, may be left out of account for this purpose.

From FCOM3.

[Capn Bloggs]

Rainboe,

This is tech log, where one would reasonably expect the answers given to be correct (unlike in other Prune forums)... And no, a 744 fuselage is not "an identical size fuselage" to the DRW QF rescue machine due to the differing lengths of the big bit on the top at the front!

[chornedsnorkack]

The official maximum number of adults allowed on board may be 678, but I am not sure what it exactly corresponds to.

Boeing 747-400 airport guide suggests that 550 is allowed on main deck - obviously exit limited. And they offer a seatmap with 539 actual seats installed.

But the maximum seat capacity of upper deck is given as 110. Obviously tied to exits rather than actual space available. Since their seatmap shows 85 seats (6 abreast coach seats on upper deck) I do not see where the extra 25 could go.

[thenaturallevel]

Domestic? Combi?

[Stickies]

Cyclone Tracey hit Darwin Christmas day (or was it Boxing day?)1974 and,from memory,QF evacuated 676 on one flight although I am not sure how many of those were children.

[Swedish Steve]

TUIfly has a french registered B744 operated by Corsair that flys out of ARN with 586 seats fitted.
And it goes non stop to BKK!

[Intruder]

AFAIK, as far as the US FAA is concerned, the evacuation test done for certification sets the upper limit. That may be the source of the number cited by sinkingship.

[BelArgUSA]

Sardines Configuration 747

Corsair did have a 747-300 configured for 577 pax.
Main deck, maximum 498, upper deck 79 seats.
That is the same fuselage as a 747-400... so make it 577.
xxx

Happy contrails

Sorry Steve - Did not know they did beat that number with their 400...

[ACMS]

Whilst on the subject of Cyclone Tracy in Darwin.

An Ansett 727-200 ( VH-RMV ) lifted 313 pax to ADL 3 days after the cyclone and was one of the first jets out.

Just after that in March 1975 World lifted 330 on a 727 from Dan Nang to Saigon.

So the record didn't last long.

[18-Wheeler]

Corsair did have a 747-300 configured for 577 pax.
Main deck, maximum 498, upper deck 79 seats.
That is the same fuselage as a 747-400... so make it 577.

Yep, I've flown one.
And an old ex-JAL -100 with something like 508 POB.

[archae86]

Not the answer to the original question, but on the topic of very large souls on board count in an evacuation, I think an El Al 747 flying Ethiopian Jews flew from Addis Ababa to Ben Gurion with 1087 aboard, captained by Aryeh Oz as part of a mass evacuation May 24-25, 1991.

Many references state there were 1087 evacuees--if true the actual souls on board was still more.

It was a Combi, but fitted with seats. The evacuees were small, and with arm rests raised, the expected capacity of 760 was greatly exceeded.

I don't think they asked Mr. Boeing for his permission.

[18-Wheeler]

FWIW I once worked out that you could carry something like 1200 people legally* in a 747 freighter.



* In terms of weight, not seats!

[Dan Winterland]

The JAL and ANA domestic aircraft are 747-400Ds. They have a lower MTOW, no centre tank, no wingtips and a few other mods. They fly domestic short haul around Japan, have mostly high density seating and no galleys.


The 744s my old company flew were certified for 660.