Boeing 747-300 - Price, Specs, Photo Gallery, History - Aero Corner (2024)

Like the previous versions of the 747, the 747-100 and the 747-200, Boeing’s 747-300, of which 81 were built, are hard to come by. Sources indicate that two are being flown by Mahan Airlines, a privately owned Airline in Iran, one is owned by the Saudi Government for shuttling VIPs, and one, a Boeing 747-300SF is used in Belarus to shuttle freight.

The passenger capacity for the 747-300, (up to 580 passengers as compared to 389 for the original 747-100) was it’s calling card, and sad to say, it’s the downfall.

The original and obvious reason for the 747-100, and its later model, the 747-200 was that airlines such as Pan Am, which ordered the first 25 747-100s, wanted to lower the overall costs per passenger, and major airlines bought 747-300 models for those reasons.

However, by the mid to late 80s, many airlines who bought the larger 747-300s, traded them for smaller airplanes that could land in smaller hubs worldwide, rather than be dependent on just landing at airports such as Tokyo or Sydney.

Production

Boeing began offering the 747-300 in 1980 and produced 81 747-300 for sale. Airlines that bought 747-300s include:

Air France, Air India, Ansett Australia, Cathay Pacific, Egyptair, Japan Airlines,
Japan Asia Airways, Mahan Air, Malaysia Airlines, Pakistan International Airline,
Qantas, Sabena, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airlines, Surinam Airways, Swissair, Thai Airways International, Union de Transports Aériens, Varig and Wardair.

Design

Essentially having most of the same features as the Boeing 747-200, the main distinguishing mark of the 747-300 was its upper deck. This upper deck housed up to 59o passengers and gave the airplane its distinctive hump.

This hump was 23 foot in length and was available in other Boeing 747 models, however they had the upper deck only as a retrofit.

Cabin Seating

There were three possible seating designs with 747-300. The plane contained 589 passengers if they were all designated as a single class. If there were two classes, the airplane seated 496, and if the airline chose to make three classes, it seated
412.

One significant difference is that to get to the upper deck, the traditional spiral staircase that had room for a lounging area was eliminated, and the first-class passenger seated in the upper deck went directly to their seats.

Engines

Depending on the model and production date, the 747-300 used 3 different types of engines. The original was the andPratt and Whitney JT9D-7 engines. Then, later on, Boeing came to an arrangement with both General Electric and Rolls Royce to produce engines for the 747-300.

The GE models used GE CF6-50E engines, and the Rolls Royce models used RB211-524 Roll’s Engines.

Performance

The aircraft could take off with 750,000m pounds fully loaded, and go as fast as 600 miles per hour. The ceiling rate was the same as the previous models, 45,000 feet.

One minor difference was that it had a range of 7,000 miles, a little less than the 747-200, but it did carry more passengers.

Applications

Although occasionally used for troop carrying the 747-300 was primarily used for carrying freight, shuttling VIPs, or carrying passengers. Over 22 airlines used them as passenger shuttles.