A wide-body aircraft is a passenger aircraft – a jet airliner – whose fuselage is wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles, i.e. a double-body aircraft. A wide-body airplane has at least seven seats across. This is in contrast to a narrow-body aircraft, which has only one aisle (single-aisle aircraft) and no more than six seats side by side (across).

Why do we need wide-body aircraft?
The term “wide-body” comes from the internal layout of the passenger compartment of an aircraft.

In single-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 727 or 707, the cabin is divided into a small first-class compartment with four seats side by side, and a large economy-class cabin with six seats side by side. Only one aisle runs the length of the cabin with three seats on either side.

For aircraft that can carry more passengers, a narrow-body fuselage would be too long for practical purposes. The landing gear would have to be very long and heavy to prevent the rear from scraping the runway during takeoff.

Narrow-body and wide-body airplanes
The wide-body airplane in the image above has a first-class cabin, which consists of a small compartment with four rows at the front of the fuselage and a much larger tourist cabin with 7 rows. There are two longitudinal aisles, unlike narrow-body aircraft, which have only one. History.Nasa.gov writes: “Some wide-body airplanes are designed to seat up to 10 seats in a row. Modern, high-density versions of the Boeing 747, for example, can seat up to 550 passengers in a 10-passenger arrangement.” (Image: adapted from history.nasa.org)

With an extremely long aisle, boarding and disembarking all passengers will take too long, while flight attendants will have difficulty serving food and drinks.

In wide-body aircraft, the first class section consists of a small compartment with four seats in the front of the fuselage and a large tourist cabin with at least seven seats in a row.

The tourist cabin of a wide-body aircraft is usually divided into two aisles along the entire length of the cabin. Some wide-body aircraft can accommodate up to 10 seats side by side.

For large-capacity jetliners, having two aisles means that passengers can board and disembark safely and quickly, and it is easier for crew members to serve food and drinks.

The wide double aisle design also offers passengers slightly wider seats and a more spacious cabin feel. The landing gear is short and heavy.

The inside of the airplane, where the passengers and crew are located, is called the cabin. Since the first passenger airplanes, the cabin has undergone continuous evolution. Nowadays, wide-body aircraft offer from one to four classes of travel.

In most cases, the bars and lounges that everyone thought would become a regular feature of flying when wide-body aircraft came on the scene in the 1970s have largely disappeared.