Which Airlines Have The Most Seats On Their Boeing 777s?

Next year will mark 30 years since the Boeing 777’s first flight, which took place on June 12th, 1994. The US manufacturer has since gone on to produce more than 1,700 examples of the triple-seven across all its variants, and the type’s users have fitted it with various configurations. Here are the densest examples.

Turkish carriers lead the way

According to data from ch-aviation.com, three airlines from Turkey have Boeing 777s with more than 500 seats onboard. The densest of these is Southwind Airlines, whose two all-economy examples of the 777-300 model have space for 550 passengers. They are seated ten abreast in seats without personal IFE screens.

Not far behind is fellow Turkish carrier Mavi Gök Airlines, whose sole example of the Boeing 777-300ER has space for some 546 passengers. However, rather than being an all-economy aircraft, this twinjet actually features a two-class layout. This has 539 economy class seats, as well as one row of seven-abreast business class seats.

Photo: MBekir/Shutterstock

Elsewhere in the country, national carrier Turkish Airlines also has some rather densely configured triple-sevens at its disposal. As pictured above, two of these are currently flying for IndiGo on a wet-leased basis, with 531-seat configurations that have space for 524 economy and seven business class passengers. Turkish Airlines also has five all-economy 777-300ERs that have 496 seats onboard.

Russia also has some big hitters

Much like how Turkey is currently something of a hotspot for densely configured Boeing 777s, Russia is also home to several carriers that aren’t afraid of squeezing every last seat onto their examples of the type. Nordwind Airlines tops the pile in this regard, with two all-economy 777-300ERs that have space for 486 seats. Despite this, their seat pitch is relatively generous, at 32-33 inches.

This carrier’s two Boeing 777-200ERs aren’t far behind, with 440 economy class seats onboard. These are laid out in a 10-abreast configuration that offers a mere 29 inches of seat pitch. Interestingly enough, fellow Russian carrier Ikar’s sole example of the 777-200ER has the same layout, having previously flown for Nordwind.

Photo: Telsek/Shutterstock

Also in the nation, Rossiya has three Boeing 777-300ERs currently operated on a wet-leased basis for flag carrier Aeroflot with 457 seats onboard. This figure comprises 436 in economy class and a 21-seat business class cabin with three rows of seven seats. Meanwhile, Red Wings Airlines has three Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with all-economy layouts that seat 412 passengers.

Dense domestic layouts in Japan

As Simple Flying has previously covered at length, the Japanese domestic market is so large that carriers often deploy widebody aircraft on internal flights to meet demand. With this in mind, certain airlines have fitted their twin-aisle aircraft with special high-density layouts. The densest of these can be found on ANA’s Boeing 777-300s, as four are equipped with 493 economy and 21 business class seats.

What do you make of these configurations? How many high-density Boeing 777s have you flown on? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Source: ch-aviation.com