@FORBIN, many times you ask "how many". one thing that must be taken into account is does the ship have accommodations/berthing for the personnel to maintain these aircraft. I know that aboard the Japanese DDH even lower enlisted men have six person state rooms. I also know RN ships have staterooms for lower enlisted. This decreases the number of aircraft a ship can accommodate. Aircraft just can't be added without accommodations for the crew.
Accomodation on the QECs for junior Ratings will indeed be in six berth cabins, which include wi fi access so they can face-time with family back home whenever they are off duty for example. A bit of a change from the occasional letter home in the old days! The QECs have a ship's complement of about 680, about the same as the preceding Invincible class, but with air group embarked this will rise to between 1400-1600, which in a hull similar in size to the USNs Kitty Hawks which could accommodate over 5000, albeit packed in 'like sardines', which is a standard of living conditions modern recruits would not accept to be fair:
Retention is a major issue for all modern Navies. You can't just pack them into racks like the old days. One of the reasons modern warships are so much bigger than their predecessors is the need to provide improved facilities for their crews, including recreation, so Gymnasiums and better berthing for even the most junior members of the crew. It's not enough to say 'Join the Navy, See the World' because with internet access and air travel most potential recruits can already see the world if the urge takes them.
My Brother served on SSNs in the late 80s and early 90s and didn't even get his own bunk back then, he had to share. 'Hot Bunking' they called it, because the beds never cooled down. As one sailor got up to start his watch another sailor climbed into his rack to get some sleep. The RN's Astute class for example are the first to provide enough bunks for everyone aboard, and none of them 'sleep with the fishes' (Torpedoes) like previous generations.
Back to CVF, I think the RN has for years been deliberately underselling the ship's capacity in many areas, probably to avoid scaring off the politicians who often confuse size with cost. The RN has a track record of this. For example, the Invincible class were officially stated as being designed for an air group of just five Sea Harriers and nine Sea Kings. When the Falklands war broke out Invincible immediately embarked her 'war strength' air group with an extra three Sea Harriers and more helicopters. It later emerged the class could comfortably operate an air group of 22, not the 14 previously stated. They also had an official top speed of 28 knots, except more than a few of their officers and crew admitted in interviews that they could comfortably make 30 knots when required.
Similarly, although the official line is that the QECs will have a top speed of 25 knots, televised interviews with engineering staff on the new ships in the last couple of years have let slip they can also make much more headway than that, possibly up to 30 knots. Don't expect any admissions about what they can do after sea trials though...
Which brings us back round to the air group. For many years the official line has been they were designed to operate up to 36 F-35Bs and four helicopters, a total of 40 aircraft. Now the lines have been blurred somewhat, by talking about multiple different aircraft types to reflect the inherent versatility of the ships in operation, with less talk about total numbers of Lightnings beyond the minimum needed for normal ops (1 squadron of 12, 2 giving 24 as required). You have to keep your eyes and ears open for when those 'in the know' let slip what the real capabilities of the ships are. They are comparable in size as I said earlier to the USN Kitty Hawk class, and whilst they are unlikely to operate an air wing on that scale anytime soon, don't be surprised if an emergency produces something on those lines down the line...
