Airliner Spotting & Identification
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With the wide variety of airliners serving the worldwide travel market today, identification of individual aircraft manufacturers and planes can be a bit tricky.
Included on this website are guides to spotting and identifying the common airliners of today.
This website provides identification guides and recognition tips for comparing the airliners of the major companies engaged in aviation manufacturing today: Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Antonov and others.
Side-by-side comparison charts of airplane differences and photographs help identify airliner manufacturer, individual models, and unique design characteristics. Charts focus on how to tell planes apart, by comparing engine placement, windshield arrangement, landing gear configuration, entry doors, tailfin design, winglets and other distinguishing characteristics.
A good starting point is our Airliner Spotting Guide.
See you at the end of the runway!
Boeing
Jet Airliners
The success of the 707 made Boeing the leader in commercial airliners, and led to a popular family of jetliners introduced over the years: the 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, and the 787.
One can spot a Boeing jet airliner in nearly any airport in the world. They share similar external characteristics, but identifying one from another can be difficult.
Airbus
Airliners
The A300 was the world's first twin-engined widebody airliner, and the first produced by Airbus. It was stretched into the A330 and A340, and shortened to the A310.
The popular Airbus A320 is a short-to-medium range, twin-engine airliner. The A350 XWB is now in service, and the A380 is the world’s largest commercial aircraft.
Airbus - Boeing
Spotting
There are easily over twenty models of airliners in use by airlines around the world today, plus variations and modified versions. Many of these airliners are from Boeing and Airbus.
View our spotter's guide to common Boeing and Airbus airliners.
Bombardier
& Embraer
The aviation industry manufactures and operates a large number of regional and mid-range jetliners.
Popular models include the Bombardier CRJ, Airbus A220, and the Embraer ERJ and E Series jets.