Boeing 787 vs 747: Which Is Bigger, Which Is Better, and Why Only One Is Still Built

These two aircraft are often set against each other as rivals. They were never really that. The 747-8 is the final stretch of a design that first flew in 1969, and the 787-10 is the longest version of the aircraft that made four engines unnecessary.

That is why the comparison is interesting rather than lopsided. On size the jumbo wins easily. On everything an airline accountant cares about, it does not.

Size: The 747-8 Is Bigger by Every Measure

There is no ambiguity here, which is unusual for an aviation comparison. The Boeing 747-8 is longer, taller, wider and much heavier than the Boeing 787-10.

At 250 feet 2 inches (76.25 m), the 747-8 is the longest airliner ever to enter airline service, and it is 26 feet (8 m) longer than the 787-10. Its wingspan is about 27 feet (8.3 m) wider and its tail stands roughly 8 feet (2.5 m) taller.

The weight gap is the one that really tells the story. The 747-8 has a maximum takeoff weight of 987,000 lb (447,696 kg) against 574,000 lb (260,360 kg) for the 787-10, so the jumbo is roughly 72 percent heavier at its limit.

Capacity follows size, and this is where a lot of published comparisons get it backwards. Boeing’s reference layout for the 747-8 Intercontinental seats 467 passengers in three classes, against roughly 330 in two classes for the 787-10.

The certified maxima run the same way. The 747-8’s published exit-limited ceiling is 605 passengers; the 787-10 is certified for 440 in a single-class cabin with four pairs of Type A exits.

Real airline layouts sit well below Boeing’s reference figure on both types. Lufthansa flies its 747-8s with 364 seats and Air China with 365, because premium cabins eat floor area fast.

Edge: the 747-8, and not narrowly. If the question is which aircraft is bigger, the jumbo wins every row. For where it sits among all airliners, see our ranking of the largest commercial airplanes.

The Cabin: Which One Is Actually Nicer to Fly In

This is the part most people searching for this comparison actually want, and it splits cleanly. The 787 wins on the air you breathe. The 747 wins on where you get to sit.

The Dreamliner’s advantage comes from its structure. Boeing built the airframe from about 50 percent composite material by weight, and a composite fuselage tolerates pressure loads that would fatigue aluminum.

Boeing uses that margin to pressurize the cabin to 6,000 feet rather than the usual 8,000, and to run higher humidity than older aircraft allow. It also gives the 787 the largest windows of any widebody flying, with electronic dimming instead of pull-down shades.

Boeing also fits the 787 with ride-smoothing technology that detects turbulence and counters it with the control surfaces. On a rough day it is a noticeable difference, not a marketing line.

The 747 answers with geometry. Its main deck cross-section is 21 feet 4 inches (6.49 m), unchanged since 1969, against 18 feet 10 inches (5.75 m) across the 787-10’s fuselage. That is about 2 feet 6 inches (0.74 m) of extra width.

The 747-8 cabin is also being renewed rather than run down. Lufthansa began retrofitting its 19 aircraft with its Allegris cabin in November 2025, with a second phase in 2027 or 2028 that reworks the upper deck and first class.

That retrofit drops the aircraft from 364 seats to 348, trading economy seats for premium economy. Airlines do not spend that kind of money on a fleet they plan to park.

Edge: split. The 787-10 is the better aircraft to spend twelve hours inside in economy. The 747-8 has the two best seats in the comparison, and you have to be flying one of three airlines to get them.

Range: Much Closer Than the Size Gap Suggests

Given how much bigger the 747-8 is, you would expect it to fly much farther. It does not.

Boeing publishes 7,730 nautical miles for the 747-8 with a full three-class load, against up to 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) for the 787-10. That is a gap of about 230 nautical miles, or under 3 percent.

Range figures for both aircraft need reading carefully, because they have moved. Most references still print 6,330 nautical miles for the 787-10, which is what Boeing published when the variant entered service in 2018.

The 747-8’s number has the same problem in reverse. Boeing’s early marketing quoted 8,000 nautical miles, and its own payload and range chart only reaches roughly 9,000 nautical miles at very light payloads.

The 787-10 is also the short-legged Dreamliner by design. Boeing publishes up to 8,300 nautical miles for the 787-9, so if range is the whole question, the 787-10 is the wrong variant to put up against a jumbo.

Edge: the 747-8, narrowly, and on paper. Neither aircraft is an ultra-long-haul specialist, and both fall short of the routes in our list of the longest flights in the world.

Two Engines Against Four: The Argument That Ended It

Here is the whole story of why one of these aircraft is still in production and the other is not.

The 747-8 carries four General Electric GEnx-2B67 turbofans rated at 66,500 lbf each. The 787-10 carries two engines, either Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-J3s or General Electric GEnx-1B76s, at 76,000 lbf each.

There is a neat irony in those names. The 747-8’s GEnx-2B67 is a version of the engine General Electric developed for the 787, modified to supply the bleed air a 747 needs. The last jumbo flies behind its replacement’s powerplant.

Four engines cost more in every direction. They burn more fuel, they need twice as many overhauls as a twin, and each one is a separate line item in a maintenance budget.

The fuel numbers show the scale of it. The 747-8 holds 63,034 US gallons against 33,380 for the 787-10, so it carries about 89 percent more fuel to seat roughly 41 percent more passengers on Boeing’s reference layouts.

Tank capacity is not the same as fuel burn, and the 747-8 does fly a little farther on it. But the ratio points the same way every operating cost does.

The regulatory change finished the job. Extended-range twin-engine operations now let two-engine aircraft fly the ocean crossings that once justified three or four engines, so the safety case for the extra pair disappeared.

Boeing states the 787 is about 20 percent more fuel efficient than the 767 it replaced. Against a four-engine jumbo the margin per seat is wider still, and neither Boeing nor Airbus offers a new passenger quadjet today. Both types are covered in our guide to the largest commercial aircraft engines.

Edge: the 787-10, decisively. This is the row that decided the others.

Where You Can Still Fly Each One in 2026

Availability is the practical difference for anyone actually booking a ticket, and it is stark.

Boeing built 155 747-8s and only 48 were passenger Intercontinentals. The other 107 were freighters, which is where the type found its real market.

Three airlines still fly the passenger version. Lufthansa is the largest operator with 19, Air China has 7, and Korean Air is down to about four.

Korean Air shrank its fleet on purpose. In May 2024 it agreed to sell five of its 747-8s to Sierra Nevada Corporation, which is converting them under a $13 billion US Air Force contract to replace the E-4B “doomsday” fleet.

Governments kept buying the type after airlines stopped. VIP 747-8s fly for Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Brunei, Morocco, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and the next Air Force One will be a converted 747-8.

The Dreamliner is on the opposite trajectory. Boeing had delivered 1,303 787s of all three lengths by August 2026, including 143 787-10s, and the order book still runs into four figures.

Edge: the 787-10, overwhelmingly. If you want to fly a passenger 747-8, treat it as a deadline rather than a choice.

Which One Should You Pick?

If you are an airline, the question was settled years ago. The 787-10 moves a large cabin on two engines, and that is why Boeing still has a Dreamliner line open and no 747 line at all.

If you are a passenger in economy, take the 787-10. Lower cabin altitude, better humidity, bigger windows and a smoother ride in turbulence add up over a long flight in a way a seat map does not show.

If you are flying premium, or you simply like aircraft, take the 747-8 while it is there. The upper deck and the nose are experiences the Dreamliner cannot offer at any price.

For the jumbo’s only real size rival, see our Boeing 747-8 vs Airbus A380-800 comparison. For the Dreamliner against Boeing’s other big twin, try Boeing 777-300 vs 787-10.