How heavy is an empty Boeing 747?

When Boeing and airlines give an airliner’s empty weight, they usually mean the operating empty weight. That is the plane ready to fly: structure, engines, seats and galleys, fluids such as engine oil and hydraulic fluid, the fuel that can’t be pumped out of the tanks, and the crew with their bags. It leaves out the usable fuel, the passengers and their luggage, and any cargo.

For a 747-400 with 416 seats in three classes, Boeing’s planning data gives 182,480 to 183,650 kg (402,300 to 404,900 lb), depending on the engine maker and weight option. The version with Pratt & Whitney PW4062 engines comes to 183,520 kg (404,600 lb), which rounds to the 184 tonnes on this page. Boeing’s figure includes an overhead crew rest but not the seat-back entertainment system, so each airline’s aircraft differs a little with its cabin fit.

A standard 747-400 can take off at up to 396,890 kg (875,000 lb), a bit more than twice its empty weight. The 747-400ER raised that limit to 412,760 kg (910,000 lb).

Fuel is the biggest share. The 747-400 holds up to 216,840 litres (57,285 US gal), and at roughly 0.8 kg per litre that is about 173 tonnes (382,000 lb) of jet fuel, nearly as much as the empty plane. Passengers, bags and cargo are capped by the maximum zero fuel weight of 251,740 kg: 251,740 minus 183,520 leaves a maximum payload of about 68 tonnes (150,400 lb).

The plane can’t carry both at once. Empty weight plus full tanks already comes to about 357 tonnes, which leaves only about 40 tonnes of the 396.9-tonne limit for payload. On each flight, the airline trades fuel against load depending on how far it has to go.

The original 747-100 had an operating empty weight of 162 to 173 tonnes (358,000 to 381,480 lb), depending on the build, and a maximum takeoff weight of 735,000 to 750,000 lb (333 to 340 t). Later models grew heavier: the 747-200B could take off at up to 833,000 lb (378 t), and the 747-300, with its stretched upper deck, weighed up to 402,700 lb (183 t) empty. The shortened 747SP was the lightest of all at 337,100 lb (153 t).

The 747-400 is the most common version, with 694 delivered between 1989 and 2009. The 747-8, stretched to 76.25 m (250 ft 2 in), is the heaviest: the passenger model weighs 220,128 kg (485,300 lb) empty and up to 447,696 kg (987,000 lb) at takeoff. Boeing built 1,574 747s in all. The last one, a 747-8F freighter, was delivered to Atlas Air on 31 January 2023.