How many seats does an airplane have?

The number of seats on an airplane isn't a fixed factory figure: the manufacturer certifies a maximum capacity for safety reasons, but each airline then decides how many seats to install based on its business model.

It depends on the size of the fuselage, the number of classes offered — economy, premium, business or first — the distance between rows of seats (pitch), and whether the airline prioritizes comfort or passenger density. A low-cost airline usually approaches the maximum allowed by the 90-second emergency evacuation certification, while a network airline sets aside more space for higher classes, reducing the total number of seats.

A turboprop or regional jet, such as the ATR 72 or the Embraer E190, usually carries between 70 and 100 seats. The most widely used narrowbody aircraft, such as the Airbus A320 or the Boeing 737, are typically configured with between 150 and 230 seats depending on the version and the airline. Long-range widebodies, such as the Boeing 777 or the Airbus A350, carry around 300 to 400 seats in multi-class configuration. The Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in service, can be certified for up to 853 seats in a theoretical single-class configuration, although no airline operates it that way in practice.

Two airlines with the same model can have very different capacities: an Airbus A321neo can carry anywhere from 180 to over 230 passengers depending on how much space is devoted to business class and how much pitch is left in economy.