Boeing 767 Specs: Dimensions, Weights, Range & More

While not as large as the Boeing 747 or 777, the Boeing 767 has seen a lot of popularity among airlines around the world. Regularly operating flights ranging from one-hour domestic hops within Japan through transcontinental flights in North America all the way to transatlantic flights, it’s a very versatile aircraft.

Over the years, it was offered in a number of different variants, each with different capabilities. Overall, the Boeing 767 family includes aircraft with specs in the following ranges:

• Length: 159 ft 2 in – 201 ft 4 in (48.51 – 61.37 m)
• Height: 52 ft 7 in – 55 ft 10 in (16.03 – 17.01 m)
• Wingspan: 156 ft 1 in – 170 ft 4 in (47.57 – 51.92 m)
• Cabin width: 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
• Maximum design taxi weight: 284,000 – 451,000 lbs (128,820 – 204,570 kg)
• Maximum design take-off weight: 282,000 – 450,000 lbs (127,913 – 204,116 kg)
• Maximum design landing weight: 257,000 – 350,000 lbs (116,573 – 123,377 kg)
• Operating empty weight: 174,110 – 229,000 lbs (78,975 – 103,872 kg)
• Range: 3,820 – 6,475 nmi (7,070 – 11,990 km)
• Usable fuel: 12,140 US gals – 24,140 US gals (49,955 l – 91,380 l)
• Fuel burn (3,000-nmi trip): 238.7 lbs per seat – 275.3 lbs per seat
• Exit limit: 255 – 375 passengers

Boeing 767 Dimensions

While the different 767 variants do share some dimensions among each other, there is a fair amount of discrepancies – especially in overall length – too.

Length

After Boeing release the original 767-200, it extended the aircraft twice. As such, Boeing 767s come in three different lengths.

The original 767-200 and the 767-200ER are 159 ft 2 in (48.51 m) long. The 767-300, 767-300ER, and 767-300F are 180 ft 3 in (54.94 m). Lastly, the 767-400ER is 201 ft 4 in (61.37 m) long.

With that, the longest 767-400ER is over 42 ft longer than the shortest 767-200.

Height

Unlike length and wingspan, for example, the height of an aircraft varies, among other things, depending on how much load it is carrying, what type of seats it is equipped with, etc. – i.e. on its weight. As such, for the 767, Boeing presents a range of tail heights in its Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning document; the maximum heights specified in the document are presented below.

The shortest of the 767 variants are the 767-300 and 767-300ER – those come in at 52 ft 7 in (16.03 m). The shorter 767-200 and 767-200ER, as well as the 767-300F, are, at 52 ft 11 in (16.13 m) just slightly taller. At 55 ft 10 in, the longest 767-400ER is also by far the tallest; it is about 3 ft taller than all of the other variants.

Wingspan

Unless equipped with winglets, all of the Boeing 767 variants except for the “-400ER” share the same wingspan of 156 ft 1 in (47.57 m). Boeing 767-300ERs and 767-300Fs equipped with winglets have a slightly larger wingspan of 167 ft (50.9 m).

Like with the previous two dimensions, the 767-400ER has, at 170 ft 4 in (51.92 m), the largest wingspan. That’s because it is equipped with raked wingtips designed to lower fuel burn.

Cabin Width

All of the passenger 767 variants share a cabin width of 186 in (4.72 m).

That translates to 2-3-2 economy class seating. In business class, the configuration depends a lot on the type of seats an airline uses. More often than not, it is either 2-2-2 or 2-1-2; in the case of United’s Polaris business class among other products, it’s 1-1-1.

Boeing 767 Weight

Below, we will look at the following weights of the 767:

• Maximum design taxi weight (MTW): The maximum weight the aircraft can be when moving around an airport. This is the highest weight at which the aircraft can be operated at all (even though it cannot take-off at this weight).
• Maximum design take-off weight (MTOW): The maximum weight the aircraft can be at the start of a take-off run.
• Maximum design landing weight (MLW): The maximum weight the aircraft can be when it touches down on a runway.
• Operating empty weight (OEW): Weight of the aircraft including things integral to its operation (unusable fuel, seats, etc.) and excluding usable fuel and payload.

Design Weight Limits

With an MTOW of 450,000 lbs (204,116 kg), the Boeing 767-400ER is the heaviest aircraft in the family. The lightest is the 767-200 with an MTOW ranging between 282,000 lbs (127,913 kg) and 315,000 lbs (142,882 kg) depending on weight configuration, etc.

As for the other variants, the 767-200ER has an MTOW of 335,000 – 395,000 lbs (151,954 – 179,169 kg), the 767-300 of  345,000 – 350,000 lbs (156,490 – 158,758 kg), the 767-300ER of 380,000 – 412,000 lbs (172,365 – 186,880 kg), and the 767-300F of 408,000 – 412,000 lbs (185,066 – 186,880 kg).

The MTW which accounts for the fuel required to taxi is between 1,000 lbs and 2,000 lbs more than each of the variant’s MTOW. The MLW ranges from 257,000 – 272,000 lbs (116,573 – 123,377 kg) for the 767-200 all the way to 350,000 lbs (158,757 kg) for the 767-400ER.

Below is an overview of the maximum taxi weight, maximum take-off weight, and maximum landing weight ranges for all of the 767 variants:

Operating Empty Weight

Operating empty weight depends not only on the aircraft itself but also on things that are outside the manufacturer’s control like the number and types of seats it is equipped with. Because of that, the same 767-300ER operated by two different operators, for example, can have a different operating empty weight.

That said, for reference, Boeing provides OEWs for each of the variants based on a typical case:

• 767-200:174,110 – 176,650 lbs (78,975 – 80,127 kg)
• 767-200ER: 181,130 – 181,610 lbs (82,159 – 82,377 kg)
• 767-300:186,380 – 189,750 lbs (84,541 – 86,069 kg)
• 767-300ER:193,840 – 198,440 lbs (87,924 – 90,011 kg)
• 767-300F:188,000 – 190,000 lbs (85,275 – 86,183 kg)
• 767:400ER:227,400 – 229,000 lbs (103,147 – 103,872 kg)

Boeing 767 Range

The actual range of an aircraft depends on a variety of factors including the engines it is equipped with, its payload (i.e. the heavier the payload, the more fuel is burned), the required reserve fuel, and rules about how far an aircraft can be from its nearest diversion point.

For a typical two-class 767-200ER taking-off at MTOW, the range is approximately between 4,605 and 6,475 nmi (8,525 – 11,990 km) depending on the aircraft’s engines and weight configuration. The 767-300ER has a range of 4,625 – 5,725 (8,565 – 10,600 km). Trading range for extra capcity, the 767-400ER has a range of only 3,820 – 5,500 nmi (7,070 – 10,185 km).

The “non-ER” variants – i.e. the 767-200 and 767-300 – can fly approximately 3,900 nmi (7,200 km). The 767-300F, while based on the 767-300ER, can only fly approximately 3,225 nmi (6,025 km) due to its typically heavier payload.

Boeing 767 Usable Fuel and Fuel Burn

The amount of usable fuel (i.e. the fuel that can be burned on a trip rather than all of the fuel in the aircraft including fuel that “stays in the system”) that the 767 can carry ranges from 12,140 to 24,140 US gallons depending on the variant.

The 767-200 can carry between 12,140 and 16,700 US gallons of usable fuel while the 767-200ER comes with an increased fuel capacity of between 16,700 and 24,140 gallons. The 767-300 can carry 16,700 gallons of usable fuel – the higher end of the 767-200’s usable fuel capacity range and the lower end of that of the 767-200ER.

Lastly, the remaining three variants – 767-300ER, 767-300F, and 767-400ER – can all carry up to 24,140 gallons of usable fuel.

In terms of fuel burn, of the three “ER” variants, the 767-400ER has the lowest fuel burn on a typical 3-000 nmi trip while the 767-200ER has the highest. Below are the figures provided by Boeing for aircraft in a typical two-class configuration:

• 767-200ER: 269.7 – 275.3 lbs per seat
• 767-300ER: 251.0 – 251.3 lbs per seat
• 767-400ER: 238.7 – 241.7 lbs per seat

Boeing 767 Capacity

There are two ways to look at capacity – the theoretically highest number of passengers that a type is certified for (i.e. the number of passengers that could evacuate the aircraft in a timely manner) and the actual seating capacity which depends on how an airline decides to equip its aircraft.

In terms of exit limit, the short 767-200 and 767-200ER have an FAA exit limit of 255 or 290 passengers depending on their exit configuration (i.e. whether they have an extra overwing exit door or not). The 767-300 and 767-300ER have an exit limit of 290 or 351 passengers. Lastly, the longest 767-400ER has an exit limit of 375 passengers.

With the 767-200, 767-200ER, and 767-300 being essentially out of airline use (other than an airframe here and there), below are some actual seating capacities of 767-300ERs operated by a variety of airlines:

• ANA: 202  seats (international), 514 seats (domestic)
• Austrian: 211 seats
• Delta: 211, 216, or 226 depending on the configuration
• United: 167, 203, or 214 depending on the configuration

The 767-400ER is only operated by Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Delta operates the aircraft in a 238-seat configuration. United has two different 767-400ER configurations – one with 231 seats and the other with 240 seats.

Summary

While the 767 is being gradually replaced by the likes of the Boeing 787, it is still a very capable aircraft that remains widely used in passenger and especially freighter service. More specifically, the 767-300ER (and 767-300F) which offers a good range and capacity is both historically and currently the most popular variant.

If you enjoyed reading this article, you might also want to learn about how the 767 compares with other aircraft types including the Airbus A300 and A330 and Boeing 757 and 787.