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KLM 747 Seat Maps

KLM's 747s ran from a 353-seat 1971 -200 through the Combi era to a two-class 408-seat -400 and a 268-seat -400M with a main-deck cargo hold.

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KLM was the launch operator of the higher-weight 747-200 in 1971 and one of the last airlines in the world to fly the 747, retiring the type in 2020. Over five decades it operated 43 of them, and its cabins were shaped above all by the Combi — an idea KLM made a fleet strategy.

1971: the classic cabin

The first KLM 747-200 carried 353 seats: 32 Royal Class in the nose and 321 in economy, with the upper deck kept as a lounge — the layout every airline started with. Rather than buy 747-300s for extra capacity, KLM from 1983 had some aircraft fitted with the stretched upper deck (SUD), the 747-300’s longer hump grafted onto a -200 airframe.

The Combi years

KLM’s most distinctive 747s were Combis. The -200M arrived in 1975, and the idea was carried through the -300M to the -400M, which kept a large main-deck cargo hold behind a bulkhead and a side cargo door while still carrying passengers ahead of it. The final Combi layout seated 268 — 35 World Business, 36 Economy Comfort and 197 economy — the payload trade-off made visible in the cabin.

The 747-400

The passenger -400 flew a two-class cabin with 408 seats: 35 World Business across the nose and upper deck and 337 in economy. KLM never fitted a First Class cabin to the type; the upper deck was business class in a 2-2 layout. The airline’s last passenger 747 flew Mexico City to Amsterdam on 29 March 2020, and three Combis briefly returned to cargo work during the pandemic before the fleet was finally withdrawn.

Cabin archive

Visual seat maps

Cabin zones run from the nose on the left to the tail on the right. Seat symbols show the typical abreast pattern, not every individual row.

Historical reconstruction1971

KLM 747-200 launch layout

KLM's first 747 cabin: 32 Royal Class seats in the nose and a 321-seat economy cabin, with the classic upper-deck lounge.

353passenger seats
Upper deckFirst Class lounge
Royal Class loungeUpper-deck lounge of the early-747 generation
Main deckNose at left
Royal Class32 seatsFirst Class in the nose
Economy321 seats · 3-4-3 typical

Map note: KLM took delivery of the 747-200 in 1971 as the launch operator of the higher-weight -200B. It later had ten aircraft fitted with the stretched upper deck (SUD) rather than buying new -300s.

Configuration source: Key.Aero — KLM's Dutch Queens of the Sky

Archived configuration2012–2020

KLM 747-400 final layout

KLM's two-class 747-400: 35 World Business seats across the nose and upper deck, 36 Economy Comfort seats and 337 in economy.

408passenger seats
Upper deckWorld Business Class
World Business Class20 seats · 2-2 typical
Main deckNose at left
World Business Class15 seats · 2-2 typicalNose cabin
Economy Comfort36 seats · 3-2 typicalExtra-legroom economy
Economy337 seats · 3-4-3 typical

Map note: KLM flew the -400 without a First Class cabin. Twenty World Business seats were on the upper deck in a 2-2 layout, with 15 in the nose; Economy Comfort was laid out 3-2.

Configuration source: TheFlight.info — KLM 747-400 seat map

Archived configuration2000s–2020

KLM 747-400M Combi layout

The 747-400M Combi, which traded part of the main-deck cabin for a cargo hold behind a bulkhead, cutting passenger capacity to 268.

268passenger seats
Upper deckWorld Business Class
World Business Class20 seats · 2-2 typical
Main deckNose at left, cargo hold aft
World Business Class15 seats · 2-2 typical
Economy Comfort36 seats · 3-2 typical
Economy197 seats · 3-4-3 typical
Main-deck cargoFreight positions behind a bulkhead, separate side cargo door

Map note: The Combi carried roughly seven main-deck cargo positions behind a bulkhead, reached through a large side cargo door, while keeping the same 35-seat business cabin and 36 Economy Comfort seats as the passenger -400.

Configuration source: Sam Chui — farewell to the KLM 747

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the primary and institutional references below.

  1. KLM's Dutch Queens of the Sky — Key.Aero
  2. What happened to KLM's Boeing 747s? — Simple Flying
  3. KLM 747-400 seat map — TheFlight.info
  4. Farewell to the KLM 747 — Sam Chui

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