Flying with frills – global airlines ranked by first class and premium seat numbers

Summary

• First class accounts for just 0.3% of installed seats of the world's 50 leading FSCs, while business class is 9.2%.
• American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines lead by total installed seat numbers and by premium seat numbers, but Emirates Airline is close to them on premium seats.
• Singapore Airlines has the highest share of seats in premium cabins (15.5%), while Emirates leads by number of first class seats and by share of seats in first class.
• On widebodies, first class accounts for 0.6% of seats, and business class for 12.2% of seats.
• On widebodies, Emirates leads by total seat numbers and by premium seat numbers and has the highest number of widebody first class seats.
• SWISS has the highest share of widebody seats in premium cabins and highest share of its widebody seats in first class.

First class accounts for 0.3% of installed seats of the world's 50 leading FSCs…

First class cabins represent only 0.3% of the installed seats of the world's 50 largest full service airlines.

Note that this is based on analysis of the number of seats installed in the current fleets of the leading 50 FSC airlines ranked by total ASKs in the week of 17-Jul-2023. It uses data from the CAPA Fleet Database, rather than scheduled seat capacity flown for the week.

…and business class is 9.2%

Although first class cabins are small, premium passengers are an important segment, with business class seats making up 9.2% of the total.

Premium economy is not counted as a premium cabin (which is first and business), but it is a profitable segment for many airlines. It accounts for 2.2% of the top 50 FSCs' seats.

Economy class, with 88.4%, represents the vast majority of their fleets' seats.

Top 50* full service carriers: share of installed seats on all aircraft by cabin class**, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
**Note that Economy includes 'Economy plus' (premium economy)
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

American, United and Delta are the largest airlines by total installed seat numbers…

Based on the total number of seats installed on their aircraft, the US big three airlines of American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines (in that order) are comfortably bigger than their main global competitors.

Each of the three fleets has more than 170,000 seats, whereas only three others have 100,000 or more.

Fourth-ranked China Southern Airlines has just under 115,000, Emirates Airline has 109,000, and China Eastern Airlines has 100,000.

Also in the top 10 are Air China (96,000 seats), Turkish Airlines (71,000), Lufthansa (69,000), and Qatar Airways (56,000).

Top 50* full service carriers: number of installed seats on all aircraft by cabin class**, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
**Note that Economy includes Economy plus
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

…and by premium seat numbers

Ranking the fleets of the leading full service airlines by the number of premium seats installed i.e. first class and business class) – the US big three remain out in front.

However, United Airlines is ranked first on this measure and American Airlines slips to third.

Emirates is close behind the US big three on premium seat numbers

On premium seats, Emirates Airline is fourth and is much closer in size to the US big three. The Dubai-based operator has almost 16,500 premium seats, while third ranked American Airlines has a little more than 18,000.

There is then a big gap to a group of four airlines with more than 7,000 premium seats (China Eastern Airlines, Air China, Qatar Airways and British Airways) and six with more than 5,000 (Turkish Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines and All Nippon Airways).

Top 50* full service carriers: number of installed seats on all aircraft in premium cabins (first class and business), week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

Singapore Airlines has the highest share of its seats in premium cabins (15.5%)

For the group of 50 airlines, premium seats represent an average of 9.5% of total seats, with a range from 3.2% (SAS Scandinavian Airlines) to Singapore Airlines (15.5%).

Also high in the range are Emirates Airline (15.1%), Korean Air (13.5%), Japan Airlines (13.1%), British Airways (12.9%), Cathay Pacific Airways (12.6%), and United Airlines (12.1%).

Top 50* full service carriers: share of installed seats on all aircraft in premium cabins (first class and business), week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

Emirates has the highest number of first class seats…

Focusing on first class alone, Emirates Airline is by far the biggest of them all, with 2,264 first class seats.

This is more than three times the 700 first class seats operated by second-placed British Airways and the 690 of third placed Korean Air.

Top 50* full service carriers: number of installed seats on all aircraft in first class, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

…and the highest share of its seats in first class (2.1%)

Emirates Airline also leads the ranking of first class seats as a percentage of total seats, with a figure of 2.1%.

Korean Air is close behind it, with 2.0% of its total seats in first class.

SWISS, which is ninth by absolute number of first class seats, is third in the ranking of first class as a percentage of the total, with 1.4%, just ahead of British Airways on 1.3% and Etihad Airways on 1.0%.

The only other leading full service carrier that comes close to the 1% threshold is Saudia, for which 0.9% of seats are in first class.

Among the top 50 FSCs, only half (25) have first class cabins.

For these 25 airlines, first class seats represent 0.5% of total seats. For the top 50 as a whole, first class is just 0.3% of seats.

Top 50* full service carriers: share of installed seats on all aircraft in first class, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

First class accounts for 0.6% of widebody seats of the world's 50 leading FSCs…

The share of seats in first class and business class is typically higher on long haul routes and widebody aircraft than it is on short/medium haul routes and narrowbody or regional aircraft.

First class cabins represent 0.6% of the installed seats on the widebody aircraft of the world's 50 largest full service airlines. Although this percentage is still very small, this is twice the percentage for first class across all of their aircraft.

…while business class is 12.2% of widebody seats

Business class seats make up 12.2% of their widebody seats, compared with 9.2% for their entire fleets.

Premium economy accounts for 4.6% of widebody seats, while economy class represents 82.6% of the widebody seats of the world's leading 50 FSCs.

Top 50* full service carriers: share of installed seats on widebody aircraft by cabin class**, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
**Note that Economy includes Economy plus
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

Emirates is the largest airline by total widebody seat numbers…

Emirates Airline's 109,000 first class seats are all on widebodies, which makes it the biggest operator of widebody first class seats by some distance.

Qatar Airways and United Airlines both have approximately 60,000, ahead of Cathay Pacific Airways' 46,000.

Delta Air Lines and Air China both have close to 40,000 widebody seats, while American Airlines, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines are also above the 35,000 threshold.

A further five airlines have more than 30,000: British Airways, Saudia, Turkish Airlines, Air France and China Southern Airlines.

Top 50* full service carriers: number of installed seats on widebody aircraft by cabin class**, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
**Note that Economy includes Economy plus
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

…and by premium seats on widebodies

Emirates Airline is also far ahead of the rest in the number of premium seats installed on its widebody aircraft, at more than 16,000.

Second is United Airlines, with just under 10,000 widebody premium seats, ahead of British Airways, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa, on between 6,000 and 7,000.

Top 50* full service carriers: number of installed seats on widebody aircraft in premium cabins (first class and business), week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

SWISS has the highest share of its widebody seats in premium cabins (22.3%)

Looking at premium seats as a percentage of total widebody seats, the leader is SWISS with 22.3%, followed by British Airways with 20.6%, and Lufthansa with 18.5%.

Emirates Airline is only seventh on this measure, also below Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and Korean Air.

For the 50 airlines as a group, premium seats represent an average of 12.8% of widebody seats.

Top 50* full service carriers: share of installed seats on widebody aircraft in premium cabins, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

Emirates has the highest number of widebody first class seats

Focusing on the absolute number of first class seats installed on widebodies, again Emirates Airline comes out on top by a long margin, from second-placed British Airways and third-ranked Korean Air.

Only 24 of the top 50 FSCs have first class seats on their widebodies.

Notable absentees from the list include United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Turkish Airlines and Air Canada.

Top 50* full service carriers: number of installed seats on widebody aircraft in first class, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

SWISS has the highest share of its widebody seats in first class (3.0%)

SWISS leads the ranking by first class seats as a percentage of widebody seats, with 3.0%.

Also above 2% are Korean Air (2.5%), Emirates Airline (2.1%), and British Airways (2.0%).

Etihad Airways, Saudia and Lufthansa are all on just above 1%.

Top 50* full service carriers: share of installed seats on widebody aircraft in first class, week of 17-Jul-2023

 

*Top 50 FSCs by ASKs
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database

British Airways' commitment to first class should help its brand

British Airways certainly has a strong presence in first class, as the second biggest operator of seats in this cabin.

However, it is behind Emirates Airline in absolute seat numbers and in its share of installed seats in first.

In addition, airlines such as SWISS and Korean Air are also ahead of British Airways in the proportion of their seats in first class.

Nevertheless, British Airways' commitment to first class gives it some credibility as it aims to regain its former premium brand position.