Extended Upper Deck‐300

Introduced by Swissair in 1983 on their long‐haul routes and currently on order or being operated by nine airlines is the Boeing 747–300 extended‐upper‐deck variant of the basic design which first entered service in 1970. Since 1977 airlines have been increasing their numbers of seats on 747 aircraft although this trend levelled off in 1981–2 as more and more carriers introduced sleeper seats and three‐class service. During this same period, use of the upper deck for revenue seating has also been increasing steadily whereas previously, this area of accommodation was used mainly as a lounge for first class passengers.