Maybe I’m the only one who finds this interesting, but I did a little number crunching just now on something I’ve been curious about, and figured I’d share the results.
International first class is the pinnacle of commercial aviation. Some airline executives argue it’s a dying product, while others argue that it’s as hot as ever, and worth investing in.
Just to be perfectly clear, let me emphasize that I’m talking about international, three cabin (or even four cabin, if there’s premium economy) first class, and I’m not talking about domestic first class within the United States, which is often marketed as such (that creates lots of confusion among those from other countries).
Currently there are a total of 24 airlines around the globe offering international first class products. So while I’ve frequently ranked the world’s top first class airlines and top first class lounges, which airlines actually have the biggest first class footprints? In other words, how many first class seats are installed on the aircraft of airlines with first class?
I’ve done some number crunching, essentially figuring out how many planes at an airline have first class, and how many total first class seats there are in the fleet. While I feel good about my math, let me emphasize that some people might quibble with me slightly on some of these points. For example:
- To what extent should parked planes factor into the math? Some planes are parked long term, some are undergoing temporary maintenance, etc.
- What exactly is the capacity of first class on some airlines? Is the capacity for Lufthansa Allegris A350 first class three or four, for example, and what about Korean Air’s planes with first class seats, but where first class is no longer consistently being sold?
So with acknowledgement that people might disagree with me slightly, here’s the math on how many physical first class seats you’ll find on the airlines that offer this product (sorted by the number of first class seats):
- Emirates has 201 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 2,214 seats
- British Airways has 76 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 680 seats
- Korean Air has 35 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 294 seats
- Lufthansa has 41 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 283 seats
- SWISS has 30 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 240 seats
- Air China has 25 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 220 seats
- Singapore Airlines has 34 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 160 seats
- American Airlines has 20 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 160 seats
- Japan Airlines has 20 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 140 seats
- Qantas has 10 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 140 seats
- All Nippon Airways has 16 planes with first class seats, with a total capacity of 128 seats
- China Eastern has 20 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 120 seats
- Etihad Airways has 14 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 114 seats
- Air India has 19 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 100 seats
- Qatar Airways has 14 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 100 seats
- Saudia has eight planes with first class, with a total capacity of 96 seats
- TAAG Angola Airlines has eight planes with first class, with a total capacity of 94 seats
- Air France has 21 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 84 seats
- Kuwait Airways has 10 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 80 seats
- Cathay Pacific has 13 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 78 seats
- Starlux Airlines has 10 planes with first class, with a total capacity of 40 seats
- Xiamen Air has six planes with first class, with a total capacity of 24 seats
- Thai Airways has three planes with first class, with a total capacity of 24 seats
- Garuda Indonesia has one plane with first class, with a total capacity of eight seats
What should we make of these numbers?
As you can see, Emirates has — by far — the world’s biggest first class footprint. It’s not even close, and Emirates has more than three times as many first class seats as the second largest carrier in that regard. Speaking of Emirates first class:
- The massive first class footprint also explains why the first class ground experience often doesn’t feel very personalized, and the first class lounge is the size of the entire concourse
- The quantity of high quality wine and caviar served in first class is simply next level, since we’re potentially talking about many thousands of passengers per day
- Emirates really has an incredibly high standard for its first class soft product when you consider just how massive of an operation this is
I think another airline worth calling out is SWISS. It’s the only airline in the world to have first class on all of its long haul aircraft, with no exceptions. That’s an impressive level of consistency.
Air France perhaps offers the world’s highest quality first class product, and certainly the most impressive ground experience of any airline. It’s not surprising that this is a much more boutique operation, since Air France’s first class footprint is less than 4% that of Emirates.
Bottom line
As much as some airline executives argue against the merits of international first class, the product is alive and well for many airlines, and in some situations, is even expanding. It’s pretty incredible how the size of first class fleets varies between airlines.
Emirates deserves a shoutout for offering, by far, the most first class seats of any airline, with over 2,000 of these seats in its fleet. Meanwhile SWISS deserves credit for consistency, and having first class on all long haul flights. Meanwhile Garuda Indonesia deserves credit for having the world’s most exclusive first class, available on a single plane. 😉
Do any of these first class statistics surprise you?
