Jetliners
Airbus A300
The first widebody airliner with only two engines. Superseded by the later A330 but remained in production until 2007. Still in use.
Airbus A310
Twin-engined widebody. Adaptation of the earlier A300 with reduced seating capacity. Out of production but still in use.
Airbus A318
The smallest member of the A320 family. Neither it nor its Boeing counterpart the 737-600 have sold well compared to dedicated regional jets like the Bombardier CRJ900 or the Embraer E-jet. However the A318 remains in production.
Airbus A319
Adaptation of the A320 with reduced capacity but longer range. A direct competitor to the Boeing 737-700. Still in production and in widespread use.
Airbus A320
Medium-range narrowbody: counterpart to Boeing's 737-800. The A320 and its derivatives the A318, A319 and A321 are the second best selling jetliner family of all time, being outsold only by the Boeing 737.
Airbus A321
Stretched derivative of the A320 with additional seating capacity: counterpart to the Boeing 737-900. Still in production.
Airbus A330
Medium- to long-range widebody airliner. Twin-engined adaptation of the four-engined A340 and competitor to Boeing's 767. Still in production and in widespread use.
Airbus A340
Long-range widebody airliner. Has sold in limited numbers due to competition from the more fuel-efficient Boeing 777, but remains in production.
Airbus A380
Long-range widebody. The world's largest passenger plane and the only one with two full-length decks. In production and in service.
BAE Systems Avro RJ/BAe 146
Four-engined regional jetliner originally produced as the British Aerospace 146 and subsequently, in improved form, as the Avro RJ series (also known as the Avroliner). Out of production but still in use.
Boeing 707
Four-engined narrowbody. Not the first jetliner, but the one which made jet travel commonplace. It was eventually superseded by widebodies on some routes and twin-engined aircraft on others. Out of production and a very rare sight nowadays in spite of its former popularity.
Boeing 727
Three-engined medium-range narrowbody jetliner. Out of production and increasingly rare though still used by some operators particularly as a freighter and VIP transport.
Boeing 737 (early models)
Short- to medium-range narrowbody: the best selling jetliner ever built. In the mid-1980s the 737-200 was superseded by the 737-300 to -500. All of these early variants are out of production but remain in use, the -300 being particularly widespread.
Boeing 737 Next Generation
Modernisation of Boeing's best-selling narrowbody design. Produced in four main versions (737-600 to -900), with the best selling being the -700 and -800. All but the -600 remain in production.
Boeing 747
The world's first widebody long-haul aircraft. Nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, the 747 was the world's largest airliner until the arrival of the A380. Production of the 747-400 model ended in April 2009 but a new version, the 747-8, is under development. The 747 remains in widespread use.
Boeing 757
Medium-range narrowbody. Intended by Boeing as a larger, longer-range complement to the 737 but robbed of much of its market niche by the Airbus A321 and Boeing's own 737-900. Out of production but still in widespread use.
Boeing 767
Twin-engined medium-range widebody: Boeing's answer to the Airbus A300. Eclipsed by the more modern A330 but still in production and in widespread use.
Boeing 777
Long-range widebody aircraft: the largest twin-engined jetliner ever built. Still in production and in widespread use.
Bombardier CRJ100/200
Small regional jetliner developed by Bombardier from the Canadair Challenger business jet. Out of production but still in widespread use.
Bombardier CRJ700/900/1000 (CRJ NextGen)
Regional jetliner: stretched and re-winged derivative of the earlier CRJ100/200. Currently designated the CRJ NextGen by Bombardier to reflect some design enhancements. Still in production and in widespread use.
Dornier 328JET
Jet-powered adaptation of the Dornier 328 turboprop regional airliner. Out of production but still in use.
Douglas DC-8
One of the earliest passenger jets. A contemporary of Boeing's 707 but did not sell as well. Long out of production and increasingly a rare sight but still used by some operators as a freighter.
Embraer 170/175/190/195 (E-Jet)
Regional jetliner family widely known as the E-Jet. In production and in increasingly widespread use.
Embraer ERJ 135/140/145
Small regional jetliner. Out of production by Embraer but the ERJ 145 is still made under licence in China for sale in that country. The Legacy 600 business jet derivative is listed separately.
Fokker 70/100
Regional jetliner. Out of production but still in use.
Ilyushin Il-96
Long-range widebody airliner. A competitor to the Airbus A340, but has sold poorly due to production problems and perceived poor after-sales support. Still in production.
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
Three-engined widebody jetliner. Out of production and in very limited use.
McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) MD-90
Modernised derivative of the MD-80 which was produced by Boeing for a time following this company's takeover of McDonnell Douglas, but did not fare well in competition with the Airbus A320 and Boeing's own 737NG. Out of production and in limited use.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10
Tri-jet widebody airliner: a contemporary of, and competitor to, Lockheed's TriStar. Out of production but still in limited use as a freighter.
McDonnell Douglas MD-11
A modernised adaptation of the DC-10 three-engined widebody jetliner. Out of production but still in use, particularly as a freighter.
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series
Medium-range narrowbody jetliner, successor to the DC-9. Consists of the MD-81, 82, 83, 87 and 88: there is actually no MD-80 but this is a generic label for all variants. Out of production but still in widespread use.
Tupolev Tu-154
Three-engined narrowbody jetliner: Russia's answer to the Boeing 727. No longer in series production but still in widespread use.
Vickers VC10
Early-generation jetliner. A competitor to the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 but handicapped by inferior operating economics and high noise levels. Long out of production and remains in service only as a transport and tanker with the Royal Air Force.
Yakovlev Yak-42
Three-engined regional jetliner and executive transport. Out of production but still in use.
