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How airlines choose aircraft

An airliner costs tens of millions and flies for 20 years or more, so airlines choose carefully. Five questions decide most orders.

1. How many seats, how far?

An airline starts from its routes: how many people want to fly, and how far. Too big an aircraft flies with empty seats; too small leaves passengers behind. Makers build families in several sizes for exactly this reason.

The A321XLR shows how range opens new routes: a single-aisle aircraft that can cross the Atlantic, so an airline can fly from smaller cities that could never fill a wide-body.

2. What does each seat cost to fly?

Fuel is one of an airline’s largest costs. New engines, like those on the A320neo and 737 MAX, burn noticeably less than the versions they replace, and a longer variant spreads the cost of crew and fuel over more seats. That’s why airlines like stretches.

3. Does it fit the fleet?

Pilots are licensed for a type, and mechanics, spare parts and simulators are type-specific too. One type for everything saves a lot: it’s why low-cost airlines often fly a single family, such as Ryanair with the 737 and easyJet with the A320 family. Pilots can usually fly every member of a family with little extra training.

4. Can the airports handle it?

Runway length, gate size and noise rules all limit what can fly where. Turboprops like the ATR 72 can use short runways on islands and in the mountains, while the A380 needs specially adapted gates. Want to see runway lengths? Each airport page shows them.

5. When can it arrive, and buy or lease?

Popular types are sold out years ahead, so an airline may pick the aircraft it can get rather than the one it would prefer. Around half of the world’s airliners are leased rather than owned, which lets airlines add or return aircraft more flexibly.