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Visualizing Well-Known Airlines by Fleet Composition

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infographic tallies the type of aircraft in airline fleets of major carriers

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Visualizing Well-Known Airlines by Fleet Composition

How many airplanes do the world’s major airlines utilize in their fleets, and which models do they prefer?

Some prefer newer planes, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which came into service in the 2010s. Others prefer large planes, like the Airbus A380 , the world’s largest passenger aircraft. A few carriers, like Air France–KLM, opt for variety. The airline uses 16 different active models. This contrasts with Southwest Airlines, which utilizes a single model in its fleet.

This series of graphics visualizes some of the world’s most well-known airliners by fleet composition, using fleet data from Planespotters.net as of May 26, 2022.

How Many Planes Are in Airline Fleets?

Each plane in a fleet is tracked in meticulous detail, from its start of service date and age, to its registration number and current status.

Above we visualized the parent airline’s current fleets, which includes planes that are either in service or parked for future service. They do not include retired planes (the historic fleet) or future planes on order.

From conglomerates to flag carriers, here are some of the world’s most well-known airline fleets:

This infographic breaks down the airline fleets of major carriers.

U.S. based airlines were far and away the largest aircraft carriers, with American Airlines being the world’s largest airline by fleet size since 2019. Interestingly, Delta Airlines was the largest by revenue in 2020, despite a smaller fleet size.

Asia’s largest airline has been China Southern, in both fleet size, revenue, and passengers carried. Together with China Eastern and the flag carrier Air China, it is part of China’s “Big Three” airlines.

But smaller airlines aren’t any less important, or lucrative. The slightly smaller fleet size of International Airlines Group (IAG), which was formed from a merger between flag carriers British Airways and Iberia, includes planes that fly on the world’s highest grossing routes. They’re joined on the list by other smaller fleets including UAE airliner Emirates, Singapore Airlines (often ranked as the world’s best airline), and Air Canada.

Boeing, Airbus, and Other Aircraft Manufacturers

The story of airline fleets usually breaks down to the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, Europe’s Airbus and America’s Boeing.

By outlasting key competitors and mergers in a difficult industry, the duopoly has solidified a grasp on the commercial aircraft sector. In 2019, they were estimated to control a combined 91% of the global commercial aircraft market.

Which manufacturers do the world’s popular airlines utilize? Here’s a breakdown of the same airlines from above, this time by manufacturer share:

Share of Airline Fleets by Manufacturer (Oct 2021)Airbus     Boeing     Other    
Lufthansa86.7%9.5%3.9%
IAG72.6%14.8%12.7%
China Eastern71.1%28.9%0.0%
Turkish Airlines57.2%42.8%0.0%
China Southern56.7%42.2%1.1%
Singapore Airlines51.7%48.3%0.0%
American Airlines49.8%50.2%0.0%
Emirates45.7%54.3%0.0%
Delta43.8%56.2%0.0%
Air Canada43.3%56.7%0.0%
Air France–KLM28.5%51.7%19.8%
United Airlines22.8%77.2%0.0%
All Nippon Airways (ANA)18.7%81.3%0.0%
Southwest Airlines0.0%100.0%0.0%

Notably, European and Asian airlines have emerged as slightly bigger Airbus customers, while American carriers favor Boeing. There are also standouts, such as Southwest Airlines’ utilization of just one make, the Boeing 737.

And a few carriers used aircraft from other manufacturers as well. Brazil’s Embraer saw usage in IAG and Air France–KLM, making up 17% of the latter’s total fleet. Bombardier‘s CJR planes, formerly produced by the Canadian manufacturer but now owned by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, saw use by IAG, Air France–KLM, and Lufthansa. The Airbus A220 was also originally a Bombardier plane before being acquired by the European manufacturer in 2018.

China Southern Airlines was the only other airline to feature a different manufacturer’s plane in its active fleet, the ARJ21. Also known as the Xiangfeng (literally “soaring phoenix”), it was developed by Chinese state-owned manufacturer Comac and first introduced into service in 2016.

What Will Airlines Use in the Future?

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbus was starting to outperform Boeing in market share.

In 2019, the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX model after two crashes saw 387 active aircraft grounded and 1,200 canceled orders, a debacle that could go down as the most costly corporate blunder in history.

Soon after, Airbus took the global market share lead in new orders, with the Airbus A320 becoming the world’s highest selling family of aircraft in October 2019. But the COVID-19 pandemic quickly followed and severely impacted the entire aviation industry.

As countries, airliners, and manufacturers look to bounce back and recover, fleet compositions are sure to change in coming years.

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Demographics

Mapped: Population Growth by Region (1900-2050F)

In this visualization, we map the populations of major regions at three different points in time: 1900, 2000, and 2050 (forecasted).

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Map of Population Growth by Region

Mapping Population Growth by Region

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In fewer than 50 years, the world population has doubled in size, jumping from 4 to 8 billion.

In this visualization, we map the populations of major regions at three different points in time: 1900, 2000, and 2050 (forecasted). Figures come from Our World in Data as of March 2023, using the United Nations medium-fertility scenario.

 

 

Population by Continent (1900-2050F)

Asia was the biggest driver of global population growth over the course of the 20th century. In fact, the continent’s population grew by 2.8 billion people from 1900 to 2000, compared to just 680 million from the second on our list, Africa.

Region190020002050F
Asia931,021,4183,735,089,7755,291,555,919
Africa138,752,199818,952,3742,485,135,689
Europe406,610,221727,917,165704,398,730
North America104,231,973486,364,446679,488,449
South America41,330,704349,634,344491,078,697
Oceania5,936,61531,223,13357,834,753
World 🌐1,627,883,1306,149,181,2379,709,492,237

China was the main source of Asia’s population expansion, though its population growth has slowed in recent years. That’s why in 2023, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country.

Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Indonesia have also been big drivers of Asia’s population boom to this point.

The Future: Africa to Hit 2.5 Billion by 2050

Under the UN’s medium-fertility scenario (all countries converge at a birthrate of 1.85 children per woman by 2050), Africa will solidify its place as the world’s second most populous region.

Three countries—Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Egypt—will account for roughly 30% of that 2.5 billion population figure.

Meanwhile, both North America and South America are expected to see a slowdown in population growth, while Europe is the only region that will shrink by 2050.

A century ago, Europe’s population was close to 30% of the world total. Today, that figure stands at less than 10%.

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