United is the first company in history to have 1,000 airplanes. Top 10 fleets: who's chasing it

1,000 round-trip. That's the number of airplanes in the fleet that United has reached in recent hours, after taking in delivers a Boeing 737 MAX 9.

The American company is the first in commercial aviation history to achieve this milestone.

And it is obviously the world's largest in terms of fleet, although the other two U.S. majors, Delta Airlines and American Airlines trail it very closely with 985 and 978 aircraft, respectively. It is therefore highly likely that one and the other will join United in the very small club of a thousand planes in the coming weeks.

The latter will fly to 360 destinations, including 147 international, in Summer 2025 and is expected to receive 10 wide-body aircraft plus 71 narrow-body aircraft in the current year. It still has a beauty of 680 orders scheduled for delivery by the end of the decade, 'split' between Airbus and Boeing.

Making up the 1,000 aircraft currently in its fleet are 81 Airbus A319s, 78 Airbus A320s, 29 Airbus A321s, 527 Boeing 737s, 61 Boeing 757s, 53 Boeing 767s, 96 Boeing 777s and 75 Boeing 787s.

Delta Airlines, which 'chases' her just fifteen aircraft away, has 73 Airbus A220s, 57 Airbus A319s, 55 Airbus A320s, 196 Airbus A321s, 74 Airbus A330s, 35 Airbus A350s, 80 Boeing 717s, 240 Boeing 737s, 114 Boeing 757s and 61 Boeing 767s in its fleet.

American Airlines instead deploys 133 Airbus A319s, 48 Airbus A320s, 301 Airbus A321s, 370 Boeing 737s, 67 Boeing 777s and 59 Boeing 787s.

In the top 10 Of the largest airlines in terms of aircraft in the fleet, the three U.S. majors are followed by another star-studded airline, the low-cost Southwest Airlines, which has a fleet of 799 Boeing 737s, and the three Chinese 'biggies'.

China Southern Airlines, which has its main hub in Guangzhou, deploys 667 airplanes These include 8 Airbus A319s, 151 Airbus A320s, 160 Airbus A321s, 26 Airbus A330s, 20 Airbus A350s, 206 Boeing 737s, 32 Boeing 777s, 28 Boeing 787s, 33 Comac ARJ21s, and 2 Comac C919s.

China Eastern Airlines, which is based in Shanghai, trailing it at just ten aircraft away, with a fleet of 657 devices among which are 32 Airbus A319s, 267 Airbus A320s, 82 Airbus A321s, 56 Airbus A330s, 20 Airbus A350s, 141 Boeing 737s, 20 Boeing 777s, 3 Boeing 787s, 26 Comac ARJ21s, and 10 Comac C919s.

The 'flag carrier' Air China, with its main base of operations in Beijing, is quite distant from its two sisters, with 503 airplanes: 27 Airbus A319s, 91 Airbus A320s, 91 Airbus A321s, 46 Airbus A330s, 30 Airbus A350s, 131 Boeing 737s, 9 Boeing 747s, 28 Boeing 777s, 14 Boeing 787s, 33 Comac ARJ21s, and 3 Comac C919s.

The first European in the top 10 is the low-cost Ryanair, which, if the subsidiary Malta Air is also taken into account, comes to count 495 aircraft, all strictly Boeing 737s.

India's low-cost Indigo, which is on its way to being among the three to four largest companies in the world after The order placed with Airbus for 500 new airplanes (which is also the single most massive order ever placed by an airline in the history of civil aviation) è for the time being in eighth place with 437 aircraft as follows: 49 ATR-72s, 241 Airbus A320s, 133 Airbus A321s, 12 Boeing 737s and 2 Boeing 777s.

The last square goes to Turkish Airlines, thanks to steady fleet (and network) growth achieved over the past 15 years. In its colors 374 airplanes fly today including 6 Airbus A319s, 18 Airbus A320s, 120 Airbus A321s, 59 Airbus A330s, 24 Airbus A350s, 80 Boeing 737s, 44 Boeing 777s and 23 Boeing 787s.

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