A380 or Boeing 747? How to tell the double-deck giants apart

When a four-engine jet with two decks glides over the fence, even people who otherwise know no aircraft type look up. For you as a spotter, the question is a different one: A380 or Boeing 747? Both are huge, both have four engines, both carry passengers on two levels. Still, they look completely different once you know what to look for. This guide shows you the features that let you tell the double-deck giants apart at a glance – from the front, from the side and from below on approach – and how to classify the most important 747 variants afterward.

A380 or 747: the short answer

Look at the upper deck. On the Airbus A380, the second deck runs the entire length of the fuselage – you see two continuous rows of windows one above the other, and from the side the fuselage looks like a tall, even oval. On the Boeing 747, the upper deck sits only at the front as a hump on the fuselage. Behind it, the contour drops away, and the rest of the aircraft is a normal, single-deck widebody fuselage.

If you cannot see the upper deck well – head-on, in backlight or far away – nose and landing gear help. The A380 has a wide, round front with a low-set cockpit, the 747 a slim nose with the cockpit windows on top in the hump. And under the A380’s fuselage hang six-wheel bogies, which the 747 does not have.

Two giants from two eras

Almost four decades separate the two types. The Boeing 747 first flew on February 9, 1969, and entered service with Pan Am in early 1970. The hump was a consequence of freighter planning at the time: Boeing expected the aircraft to fly mainly cargo in the long run. So that the nose could hinge up and containers could roll straight onto the main deck, the cockpit moved up. Behind the cockpit there was room for a small lounge – the later upper deck.

Airbus, on the other hand, designed the A380 as a true double-decker from the start. The first flight took place on April 27, 2005, in Toulouse, and Singapore Airlines began scheduled service in October 2007. So that the aircraft fits existing airports despite its size, the wingspan had to stay under 80 meters. That shapes the wing: it is extremely deep, meaning very wide from front to back, rather than especially long.

Both programs have ended today. Airbus handed over the last A380 to Emirates on December 16, 2021. Boeing delivered the 1,574th and last 747 – a 747-8F – to Atlas Air on January 31, 2023. In scheduled service, both types will remain visible for a while. Why four-engine jets are disappearing from fleets overall is explained in the article The end of the four-engine jets.

Feature 1: upper deck and fuselage profile

The most important feature is also the one that made both types famous.

• A380: Two full decks from front to back. The upper row of windows begins just behind the nose and ends only shortly before the tail. The fuselage cross-section is a tall, slightly oval profile. From the side, the A380 therefore looks massive and evenly tall.
• Boeing 747: One main deck over the whole length, with the hump above it at the front. On the early versions, the 747-100 and -200, the hump is short. From the 747-300 on, the upper deck is stretched and reaches roughly over the wing’s leading edge. Behind it, the contour tapers into a normal fuselage.

On freighters without windows, the feature works the same way, just through the silhouette: the 747’s hump is always visible. By the way, there is no freighter version of the A380 – Airbus offered the A380F, but it was never built.

Feature 2: nose and cockpit

From the front, the two types look fundamentally different, and that is exactly what helps when an aircraft taxis straight toward you.

• A380: The front is wide, tall and round. The cockpit sits low in the nose, below the upper deck. So there is still a whole level above the cockpit windows. Many spotters describe the A380’s face as friendly or whale-like.
• Boeing 747: The nose is slimmer and tapers to a point. The cockpit windows sit on top in the hump, clearly above the main deck. Below them you see the long, smooth nose, which hinges up on the factory-built freighters.

How to identify types in general by nose shape and window arrangement is shown in the guide Identifying aircraft types by nose and cockpit windows.

Feature 3: landing gear

On final approach, the aircraft comes toward you from the front and below – often you then see the landing gear better than the upper deck.

• A380: 22 wheels in total. The nose gear has two wheels. Under the wings sit two gear legs with four wheels each, and under the fuselage two more with six wheels each on three axles. The long, six-wheel bogies are the typical picture of a landing A380.
• Boeing 747: 18 wheels in total. Two on the nose and four main gear legs with four wheels each, two under the wings and two under the fuselage. All four legs look the same and stand in a compact block.

If you see a wide row of four equally sized gear groups from below, you have a 747 in front of you. Three axles in a row on the inner legs mean A380. An overview of the landing gear configurations of all common types is offered by the article Landing gear as an identifying feature.

Feature	Airbus A380	Boeing 747-400	Boeing 747-8
Upper deck	continuous	hump at front	hump at front, stretched
Cockpit	low in the nose	on top in the hump	on top in the hump
Wheels	22	18	18
Length	around 72.7 m	around 70.7 m	around 76.3 m
Wingspan	around 79.8 m	around 64.4 m	around 68.4 m
Wingtips	wingtip fences	winglets	raked
Engines	Trent 900 or GP7200	CF6, PW4000 or RB211	GEnx-2B
ICAO type code	A388	B744	B748

Feature 4: wing and wingtips

You recognize the two types especially well by the wing when they fly over you.

The A380’s wing is enormously deep and looks almost stubby in relation to its length. According to Airbus, the sweep is 33.5 degrees, somewhat lower than on the 747. At the tips there are no large winglets but small triangular wingtip fences that extend above and below the wing surface – similar to the A310 and A320ceo.

The 747 has a slimmer, more strongly swept wing that gives it its typically elegant silhouette. The wingtips also reveal the variant:

• 747-100, -200, -300 and 747SP: no winglets, the wings end straight.
• 747-400: winglets angled up and outward. (Exception: the Japanese domestic version -400D without winglets, now historical.)
• 747-8: no winglets but wingtips swept back (raked wingtips), like the 787.

The different tip shapes are explained in detail in the guide Winglets, Sharklets and raked wingtips.

Feature 5: engines and tail

Both types have four engines – so counting does not help here. Still, there are differences that trained eyes use.

The A380 flies with either the Trent 900 from Rolls-Royce or the GP7200 from Engine Alliance, a joint venture of General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. A nice detail for the landing: only the two inner engines of the A380 have thrust reversers. If only the inner nacelles open after touchdown, that is another clue pointing to the Airbus.

On the 747-400, depending on the airline, General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce RB211 engines hung under the wing. The 747-8 has exclusively the GEnx-2B with serrated trailing edges on the nacelle, the so-called chevrons – a sure sign of the youngest generation. How to tell engines apart by nacelle, fan and exhaust is shown in the article Identifying aircraft engines.

The vertical stabilizer also helps with size comparison: at around 24.1 meters, the A380 is clearly taller than the 747, whose tail is around 19 to 20 meters. At the gate next to other widebody jets, the A380 tail visibly sticks out.

The 747 variants at a glance

Once you have recognized a 747, a second look is worthwhile. You can find the detailed instructions in the guide Identifying the Boeing 747-100 to 747-8, and here is the short version:

• 747-100 and -200: short hump, no winglets. Both are historical in scheduled service, and individual aircraft stand in museums such as the Technik Museum Speyer.
• 747SP: greatly shortened fuselage with a larger vertical stabilizer. Looks stubby, almost like a toy jumbo. Very rare.
• 747-300: stretched hump like the -400, but no winglets. Historical in scheduled service.
• 747-400: stretched hump, winglets. The most-built version.
• 747-400F: short hump without upper-deck windows like the -200, but with winglets and a nose door.
• 747-8 and 747-8F: visibly longer fuselage, raked wingtips, GEnx engines with chevrons.
• Dreamlifter: converted 747-400 with an enormously bulged fuselage for transporting 787 components. Unmistakable.

If you run into a 747 freighter, the article Identifying cargo aircraft helps too.

Where to see the A380 and 747 today

For the 747, Frankfurt Airport is the first address in Germany. Lufthansa operates 747-400s there and is the largest operator of the passenger version, the 747-8I. In addition there are 747 freighters from international cargo airlines. The big 747F operators include Cargolux from nearby Luxembourg and Atlas Air. You have good views of the runways from the Zeppelinheim viewing platform. The 747-400 is one of the oldest long-haul jets in the Lufthansa fleet and is gradually being replaced by newer types – if you still want it in your hangar, better not wait too long. Tips for locations and times of day are provided by the Frankfurt spotting guide.

Lufthansa’s A380 is based at Munich Airport. Since the type’s return after the pandemic, Lufthansa has operated its A380 exclusively from Munich. A good location is the Munich Airport visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel), and more tips are in the Munich spotting guide. In addition, foreign airlines bring the A380 to Germany, above all Emirates as by far the largest operator worldwide. Which destinations are served right now changes with every schedule, as of October 2026.

If you want to experience both types in large numbers, head to London or the Gulf. At London Heathrow Airport, A380s from British Airways and many guest airlines land, and a classic is Myrtle Avenue. More on this in the Heathrow spotting guide. At Dubai Airport, the A380 is simply an everyday sight.

The reliable order at the fence

For step 5, the guide Finding and tracking an aircraft by registration explains how to find out an aircraft’s operator and age through its registration. How type codes are built is shown in ICAO type codes explained.

Typical mistakes

• Overestimating the size: The A380 is not bigger in every respect. The 747-8 is longer, and only height and wingspan clearly belong to the A380.
• Mistaking the 747 hump for a full upper deck: On the stretched 747-300, -400 and -8, the hump reaches quite far back. What matters is that it ends before the tail.
• Overlooking wingtip fences: The A380’s small fences are hardly noticeable at a distance. Missing winglets therefore do not automatically mean 747-8 – also check upper deck and landing gear.
• Taking every double-deck freighter for a 747 – rightly so: Because there is no A380 freighter, a windowless four-engine jet with a hump is always a 747. You only become unsure when the fuselage is grotesquely bulged: then it is the Dreamlifter.

Conclusion

The A380 and Boeing 747 share four engines and two decks but hardly look alike. The A380’s continuous upper deck and the 747’s hump are usually enough for the decision. If not, cockpit height, landing gear and wingtips tip the balance. With a bit of practice, you then tell the 747 variants apart by hump length, winglets and engines as well. And because both programs have ended and the first operators are retiring their aircraft, it is worth logging every encounter. If you are just starting out, the guide Identifying aircraft types for beginners helps you get started, and for further widebody jets there is the comparison A330 or A340?.