The main deck cabin
Boeing 747-8 main deck cabin concept.
A Boeing concept rendering of the main deck in a three-class layout.
What the numbers mean
The 747-8 Intercontinental seats 467 passengers in three classes — 51 more than a 747-400 — gained by the 18 ft 3 in fuselage stretch. Two of Boeing’s cabin moves made those seats fit without cramping the customers:
- The flight-crew rest moved to the upper deck, freeing main-deck and lower-hold space that earlier 747s gave to crew bunks.
- The same relocation is why the aircraft carries 37,000 lb of cargo, a third more than a 747-400 and rather more than an A380.
On the main deck the extra space shows as wider galleys, the swept staircase at door 2 and — for passengers — the familiar 3-4-3 economy of the 747 era, but in a cabin with the larger windows and LED lighting of the 787-derived interior.
A concept, not a specification
Renderings like this one are concepts, not a delivered cabin: airlines specify their own seats and finishes, so no two operators’ 747-8s look alike inside. For how the space was actually sold, see the Lufthansa 747-8 seat map — the best-documented public layout.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the primary and institutional references below.
Related topics
747 versus A380
The two largest airliners ever built, compared — size, capacity, economics, and why both are now out of production.
Boeing 747-400 vs 747-8
The 747-8 is bigger, heavier and quieter than the 747-400, with a new wing, GEnx-2B engines and a stretched fuselage — but it sells a fraction as well.
747-400XQLR
Announced at Asian Aerospace 2002, the 747-400XQLR studied quieter, longer-range improvements. It was dropped in favour of the 747-8.
747-8
Announced in 2005, the 747-8 was the final 747 generation, with a new wing, GEnx-2B engines and a 987,000 lb maximum takeoff weight.
The 747-8 and the environment
The 747-8 meets emissions limits for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, smoke and nitrogen oxides, with a noise footprint about 30 percent smaller than the 747-400.
The 747-8 cabin experience
Larger windows, a sculpted 787-style ceiling, LED mood lighting and a quieter cabin than any previous 747.
More in Interiors
Inside the 747
How the 747 cabin changed — upper-deck lounges and spiral stairs on the early aircraft, a 787-derived cabin on the last ones.
When the hump was a bar
Piano bars, swivel chairs and spiral staircases — what airlines put in the 747's upper deck before seat counts took it back.
Three staircases
Spiral, straight, then sweeping — the 747's stair to the upper deck changed three times, and each change was about floor area.
First class on the 747
Sleeper seats, upper-deck cabins and lie-flat beds — how the 747 carried the front of the aircraft for fifty years.
Galleys and crew rest
Feeding 400 people and resting the crew that does it — the parts of a 747 cabin passengers never think about.
The 747-8 interior
The Boeing 747-8 cabin — 787-derived architecture, a curved staircase, larger windows, LED mood lighting and the VIP concepts.