What is "wide-body aircraft"

n. a commerical airliner with two aisles [syn: widebody aircraft, wide-body, twin-aisle airplane]

A wide-body aircraft is a jet airliner having a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles, also known as twin-aisle aircraft, with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers. The largest wide-body aircraft are over wide, and can accommodate up to eleven passengers abreast in high-density configurations.

By comparison, a typical narrow-body airliner has a diameter of , with a single aisle, and seats between two and six people abreast.

Wide-body aircraft were originally designed for a combination of efficiency and passenger comfort and to increase the amount of cargo space. However, airlines quickly gave in to economic factors, and reduced the extra passenger space in order to maximize revenue and profits.

Wide-body aircraft are also used for the transport of commercial freight and cargo and other special uses, described further below.

The biggest wide-body aircraft are known as jumbo jets due to their very large size; examples include the Boeing 747 ("jumbo jet"), Airbus A380 ("superjumbo jet"), and upcoming Boeing 777X ("mini jumbo jet"). The phrase, "jumbo jet", derives from Jumbo, a famous circus elephant in the 19th century.

7-abreast aircraft seats typically 160 to 260 passengers, 8-abreast 250 to 380, 9 and 10-abreast 350 to 480.