I've just returned from my first Australia-UK return flight and I reckon the Qantas 747-400s I flew in were far, far noisier than any other plane I've been on recently. I compared the noise level with the Virgin Blue 737 and a Jetstar A3something I flew on this weekend and the latter two planes were far quieter.
Now I know the engines are twice as numerous and probably a lot more powerful on the 747, but does that really make all the noise? When I stepped onto the 747 in London I noticed that the ventilation system was making a hell of a racket and this never subsided for the duration of the flight. In fact the engines were a minor addition to this. My noise cancelling headphones did a good job of lessening the irritation but they don't work miracles.
Should I be aiming for Airbus flights in future on long trips? Like Emirates perhaps? Has anyone else noticed that the 747s seem to be very noisy?
I was in 47K by the way.
Now I know the engines are twice as numerous and probably a lot more powerful on the 747, but does that really make all the noise? When I stepped onto the 747 in London I noticed that the ventilation system was making a hell of a racket and this never subsided for the duration of the flight. In fact the engines were a minor addition to this. My noise cancelling headphones did a good job of lessening the irritation but they don't work miracles.
Should I be aiming for Airbus flights in future on long trips? Like Emirates perhaps? Has anyone else noticed that the 747s seem to be very noisy?
I was in 47K by the way.