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In October 2006, there were a total of 25,750 commercial airliners (both passenger and cargo) in service with aviation companies worldwide. The airliner fleet is growing, albeit over the period October 2005 to October 2006 less fast than previous years. In this period, some 970 airliners entered service, while around 300 were retired. The Americas have the most airliners in service, almost 11,000, followed by Europe with almost 8200 aircraft.

• World's largest airlines
• Aircraft specifications

The information used in this section is from Flight International's World Airliner Census and the data on total aircraft numbers shown is for October 2006.

Jet airliners - mainline aircraft

The most widespread airliner type currently in service is the A320-family of aircraft (A318/A319/A320/A321) followed by the Boeing 737, but this figure changes dramatically if previous-generation 737's (which are still in service) are included too. There are almost 2800 A320-family aircraft in service against some 1900 of the 737 Next Generation (NG) family (which includes the 737-600, -700, -800 and -900). However, if all 737's are included (the NG models as well as the -100/-200 and -300/-400/-500 models), the total number of 737's in service is about 4300. The main difference between these figures is explained by gap of two decades between entry into service of the first Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

The ranking is as follows:

1. Airbus A320-family
2. Boeing 737-600/700/800/900
3. Boeing 737-300/400/500
4. Boeing MD-80 *
5. Boeing 757-200/300
6. Boeing 747-100/200/300/400
7. Boeing 767-200/300
8. Boeing 727-100/200
9. Boeing 737-100/200
10. Boeing 777-200/300

* Boeing took over McDonnell Douglas in 1997  

The fleet of Boeing 737NG and A320-family aircraft increased most over the period Oct 05-Oct 06, by 15% and 13% respectively.

Regional airliners

Bombardier and Embraer are the world leaders in the field of regional airliners. Some 940 of Bombardier's Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) 100 and 200 are in service, followed closely by Embraer's ERJ135/140/145 with some 850 in service. The third place in the rankings is occupied by Bombardier's turboprop aircraft, with 630 Dash 8-Q family aircraft in service.
Both manufacturers have now set their hopes on their next-generation regional jets, namely the Canadair CRJ700 and 900 and the Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195. However, while the sale of regional jets soared over the past number of years, many airlines are now turning back to turboprops as an effect of high fuel prices.

The ranking is as follows:

1. Bombardier CRJ 100/200
2. Embraer ERJ135/140/145
3. Bombardier Dash 8-Q
4. ATR 42/72
5. Raytheon Beech 1900
6. Antonov An-24
7. Fairchild Metro
8. Saab 340
9. De Havilland Twin Otter
10. Let L-410

Over the period Oct 05-Oct 06, the total number of CRJ100/200's in service decreased by 4%, while the fleet of Dash 8-Q series aircraft increased by almost 5%. Over the same period, the fleet of Embraer ERJ-aircraft increased by almost 3%.

Source: Flight International / Flight Acas database

World's largest airlines - Top 10 in terms of passengers carried in 2005

Note: Federal Express and United Parcel Service had 635 and 577 aircraft in their fleets respectively on 31 December 2005, making them the second and third largest air carriers in terms of aircraft.

Statistics from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia / International Air Transport Association

Aircraft history and specifications

• Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde
• Airbus A300
• Airbus A310
• Airbus A320-family
• Airbus A330
• Airbus A340
• Airbus A380
• Boeing 707
• Boeing 727
• Boeing 737
• Boeing 747
• Boeing 757
• Boeing 767
• Boeing 777
• Boeing 787
• Ilyushin Il-62
• Ilyushin Il-76
• Ilyushin Il-86 & Il-96
• Lockheed L-1011
• McDonnell Douglas DC-8
• McDonnell Douglas DC-9 & MD-80
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10
• McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) MD-11