Photo courtesy: The private collection of Debashish Chakraverty The flight was operated by a Boeing 747-400. The upper deck is a cosy exclusive Business Class cabin with rows of two seats on each side. Flight review British Airways Business class “queen of the skies” 747-400 on the upper deck from London Heathrow to Seattle in August 2019. Featured above: “The flight attendants in the upper deck lounge of the Emperor Ashoka in their new uniforms that debuted along with the 747—the sari, the churidar kameez and the trouser suit (for European and Japanese flight attendants),” says Chakraverty. When I boarded the aircraft, I was warmly welcomed by the crew. The SUD was almost twice as long as the original 747 upper deck. Continental Airlines had a pub while American Airlines had an infamous piano bar. Besides increased capacity, the 747-300 did not offer any increase in range, nor did it include improvements in flight deck technology or construction materials. Economy seats, in 3-4-3, are also at the lower deck behind the First Class cabin. The main business class cabin is located on the upper deck with 26 seats in a 2 x 2 layout. Stockholm, Arlanda, Sweden - The lounge area at the Jumbo Stay (Jumbohostel), a hostel that is a converted Boeing 747 airliner. Later, as airlines began to use the upper-deck for premium passenger seating instead of lounge space, Boeing offered a 10-window upper deck as an option. The upper deck behind the cockpit provides space for a lounge and/or extra seating. Flight. Even when the lounge was replaced by seats, upstairs on a 741 or 742 was pretty special- a bit like your own private jet. While still less than ideal for window-seat fliers who need to step over the aisle seat to get out — especially awkward when the seat is in its lie-flat bed mode — the cabin felt more intimate. The aircraft pictured in AF livery was an original Pan Am 747-100. The boarding in London Heahrow was well organized and not stressful at all. NZ has E+ in the upper deck of the 747. Business class downstairs on the 747 is fine and all, but it’s 8 across and just like business class on any other British Airways plane. Several airlines, including United, had lounges on at least one deck. The first 747-100s were built with six upper-deck windows (three per side) to accommodate upstairs lounge areas. The Queen of the Sky is one of the most iconic commercial airliners of all time, with its large size and forward hump that accommodates both crews and passengers. Photo: Aero Icarus via Flickr. The 747 is divided into two decks. On the upper deck, there are only 20 seats with a 2-2 layout, so there is more space for fewer passengers and it almost feels like flying in your own private cabin. Pan Am was the first airline to fly a 747 commercially, on January 22, 1970, and that flight set the upper deck standard for years to come. Airline Travel Travel News Air Travel Aviation Theme Civil Aviation Aircraft Interiors Air Festival Flying Boat Vintage Travel. I had booked Seat 64K on the upper deck of this Boeing 747-400, which is really the place to be — there are just 20 seats in a 2-2 configuration up top, while the remaining 66 Club World seats on the lower deck are arranged in a tight 2-4-2 configuration. It's just a much more intimate cabin (smaller FA to PAX ratio) and segregated from the crowds. When plane spotting, it is typically easy to tell the difference from a 747-100/200 and the 747-300 by check out the stretched upper deck, but the SUD makes it a bit more complicated. Like other Pan Am 741s, it had 3 windows on both sides of the upper deck originally. The airline ran its early 747-100s, complete with upper deck bar and lounge, on Los Angeles and San Francisco to New York and Boston, among others. Upper deck lounge for first class and business class passengers on the Boeing 747 aircraft. 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