The upper deck
The 747-8 upper deck borrows cabin architecture from the 787.
The upper deck of the 747-8, showing the curved ceiling and indirect lighting taken from the 787.
The upper deck is effectively a separate cabin: its own galley, its own evacuation routes, and a floor area that cannot be extended. Airlines have generally used it as a premium cabin since the 747-300 stretched it — a long way from the lounges and piano bars of the first 747s.
The seating is typically 2-2 in first class and 3-3 in economy, against 3-4-3 downstairs, which is much of why passengers seek it out.
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.