Over 18 million non-stop flights are planned this summer, with the A320ceo operating the most – more than one in five flights. The top-10 aircraft, meanwhile, have three-quarters of all movements globally, but what aircraft are in the list?

The top-10 aircraft by total non-stop flights this summer are as follows, with the A320ceo in pole position with over 3.8 million.

  1. A320ceo: 3,850,207 flights planned; 21.3% share of flights worldwide
  2. B737-800: 3,477,554; 19.3%
  3. A321ceo: 1,290,868; 7.1%
  4. B737-700 1,365,537; 7.6%
  5. ATR-72: 646,522; 3.6%
  6. CRJ-900: 643,848 3.5%
  7. Embraer 175: 619,297; 3.4%
  8. A319: 563,777; 3.1%
  9. Embraer 190: 359,224; 2.0%
  10. B737-900: 326,077; 1.8%

This is based on examining every aircraft type and series using OAG Schedules Analyzer data.

The Dash-8-400 was in the top-10 list before coronavirus struck. It was 10th for flights, but the end of Flybe pushed it down the list. Photo: Getty Images

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Three-quarters of the world's movements

These top-10 aircraft have almost three-quarters (74%) of all of the world's flights. Not surprisingly, all are narrowbodies, regional jets, or turboprops, with the first widebody the A330-300 with nearly 177,000 movements. Simple Flying recently analyzed the transatlantic market and found that the B787-9 is now the top aircraft, overtaking what was number-one: the A330-300.

The lack of widebodies in the list is the result of choosing to look at flights rather than another common measure of supply, such as seats, available seat miles (ASM), or available ton-miles (ATM). All would provide a somewhat different picture.

The A320ceo and B737-800 together have over 40% of flights. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

A320ceo is the world's number-one type

With over one in five flights (21%), the A320ceo is the world's top aircraft type this summer. It has over 370,000 more flights than the number-two aircraft, the Boeing B737-800.

Of course, both machines are effectively used on the same missions and are equivalent aircraft. A start-up low-cost carrier (LCC), for example, will often choose one or the other if they're after the rough payload-range that comes with them. The US new entrant, Avelo, which launched operations on April 28th, chose the B737-800.

The general capacity of both aircraft and the popularity of them with LCCs indicate that they're very good choices for a balance between trip cost, unit (seat-mile) cost, and not having too many seats to fill.

Mexico is now the world's fifth-largest country for the A320ceo. Photo: Getty Images.

182 airlines to use the A320ceo

Over 180 airlines are down to use the A320ceo this summer, including a large number of lesser-known carriers. These include Berniq Airways, a Libyan airline that received its air operator's certificate in February 2021. It has scheduled service between Benghazi and Tripoli Mitiga.

Despite the deteriorating COVID situation in India, IndiGo is the world's largest A320ceo user this summer, as shown below. This is based on the absolutely latest data from May 4th.

  1. IndiGo: 219,340 flights
  2. China Eastern: 218,266
  3. China Express: 135,872
  4. easyJet: 135,234
  5. China Southern: 123,952
  6. LATAM Group: 101,834
  7. Vueling: 96,893
  8. JetBlue: 91,722
  9. Shenzhen Airlines: 87,492
  10. Spirit: 76,631

IndiGo has scheduled the ceo on over 300 routes, with Mumbai to Bangalore the leading route for the type. In March, Simple Flying showed how IndiGo has over half of the Indian market and is the top airline at the country's 20 largest airports.

There's now less than a 1% difference in flights between IndiGo and China Eastern. easyJet, which had the world's second-highest number of A320ceo flights in summer 2019, is fourth. Photo: Wikimedia via Pedro Aragão.

All about China

China's domestic market is now larger than it was in summer 2019, analyzing OAG data confirms. This has helped to propel Chinese airlines up the ranks. China was number-one in summer 2019 for A320ceo flights too, but it now has nearly 30% more.

  1. China: 1,051,262 flights
  2. USA: 441,435
  3. India: 370,463
  4. Spain: 128,017
  5. Mexico: 117,725
  6. Indonesia: 117,188
  7. Russia: 93,308
  8. Colombia: 83,348
  9. Brazil: 82,041
  10. Saudi Arabia: 80,675
Allegiant A320
The introduction of Orange County to Sioux Falls, beginning on November 19th, comes as Allegiant ends Los Angeles to the South Dakota airport. Allegiant has served Los Angeles-Sioux Falls since 2009, a route that ended in August 2018 but returned from June to August 2021. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

At the same time, others have fallen, largely due to coronavirus. Germany, which was the fourth-largest country for A320ceos, is no longer in the top-10 list, while the UK, Malaysia, and France – which had the last three spots – have also fallen out. Russia, Colombia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia have replaced them.

What are your thoughts on the A320ceo? Comment below!