Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW)

Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) is the greatest weight — aircraft, fuel, crew, passengers and cargo combined — at which an aircraft is certified to begin its take-off roll. It's a structural and performance limit set by the manufacturer and regulator, and it constrains the classic trade-off between fuel (range) and payload: fill the seats and you may not be able to fill the tanks, and vice versa.