Wide-Body Aircraft

A wide-body aircraft, also called a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough, typically five to six meters across, to hold two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast, giving it a total passenger capacity that can range from about 200 to as many as 850 depending on the model and seating configuration. The type began with the Boeing 747, a four-engine aircraft with a partial upper deck that entered service in 1970, and was quickly followed by rivals including the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011, a period of competition known as the wide-body wars, and by the Airbus A300, which became the first twin-engine wide-body when it entered service in 1974. Wide-body aircraft were originally designed to balance passenger comfort with efficiency and cargo space, though airlines have since often prioritized additional seating over comfort; by the end of 2018 more than 9,100 wide-body aircraft had been delivered worldwide, with annual production peaking at 412 units in 2015, and the type remains the standard vehicle for long-haul air travel.