In 2017, air transport operators in the European Union (EU) ran a total of 6 711 aircraft, used for passengers or freight. This number excludes piston planes, helicopters and aircrafts with a maximum take-off weight of less than 2 600 kg.
From the total EU aircraft fleet, around one fifth (21%) of the aircraft were aged less than 5 years. Almost one third of the aircraft (27%) were 5 to 9 years old and 19% were 10 to 14 years old. The remaining third of the aircraft (34%) were 15 to 19 years old (17%) or 20 years or over (17%).
The source dataset can be found here.
1 in 5 EU aircraft operated in the United Kingdom
In 2017, the United Kingdom was the leading aircraft operator in the EU, running more than 1 312 aircraft. In other words, UK-based operators accounted for almost one in every five EU aircraft (20%). Following them were Germany with 1 100 aircraft (16% of the EU aircraft fleet), France (571 aircraft, 9%), Ireland (569 aircraft, 8%) and Spain (509 aircraft, almost 8%).
The source dataset can be found here.
Largest share of old aircraft operated in Sweden, Lithuania and Croatia, lowest in Finland and Luxembourg
Across the EU Member States, over half the aircraft fleet was aged 20 or more in Sweden (55%), Lithuania (52%) and Croatia (50%). Aircraft aged 20 years or more also made up more than a third of the fleet in Bulgaria (44%), Cyprus (40%), Romania (39%) and Denmark (35%).
In contrast, operators in Finland had no aircraft aged 20 years or over, whist this share was less than 10% in Luxembourg (3%), Czechia (6%), Ireland and Austria (both 7%) as well as the Netherlands (slightly below 10%).
A significant share of the fleet was made up of recent aircraft (aged less than 5 years) in Hungary (49%) and Malta (42%). The next in the ranking were Luxembourg (31%), Finland (30%), Ireland and Spain (both 27%), the Netherlands (25%) and the United Kingdom (23%).
In contrast, operators in Croatia and Cyprus had no aircraft that were less than 5 years old. In a further 9 EU Member States fewer than 10% of the aircraft fleet were made up of aircraft less than 5 years old: Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia (each 4%), Slovenia (5%), Romania (6%), Czechia, Estonia and Italy (each 7%) as well as Greece (little below 10%).
The source dataset can be found here.
This news item marks International Civil Aviation Day (7 December).
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