More and more aircraft are coming back out of temporary storage. At the beginning of December, 72% of the global fleet is back in the sky, with 7.998 aircraft still grounded.
Asia and North America are still the regions with the fewest grounded aircraft relative to other parts of the world, counting both 78% (Asia) and 78% (North America) of the fleet as active. Oceania and South America are now slightly behind them, with 75% (Oceania) and 69% (South America) of their current active fleet.
Continents | Active | Grounded | Total | % active |
Africa | 736 | 560 | 1296 | 59.71% |
Asia | 7645 | 2183 | 9828 | 78.35% |
Europe | 3898 | 2773 | 6671 | 60.89% |
North America | 5964 | 1880 | 7844 | 77.62% |
Oceania | 578 | 222 | 800 | 74.54% |
South America | 720 | 380 | 1100 | 69.43% |
TOTAL | 19541 | 7998 | 27539 | 72.49%* |
We understand grounded fleets do not fully represent airline activity as airlines inevitably have different utilization levels for specific aircraft.
When it comes to the TOP 10 countries with the highest percentage of active fleets, counting more than 100 registered aircraft, China leads with 93% of the active fleet with 3466 aircraft. The list is followed by Japan, Taiwan, Ethiopia, Viet Nam, New Zealand, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the USA.
Country | Active | Grounded | Total | % active |
China | 3466 | 242 | 3708 | 93.47% |
Japan | 600 | 57 | 657 | 91.32% |
Taiwan (Province of China) | 180 | 19 | 199 | 90.45% |
Ethiopia | 97 | 14 | 111 | 87.39% |
Viet Nam | 187 | 31 | 218 | 85.78% |
New Zealand | 99 | 19 | 118 | 83.90% |
India | 589 | 121 | 710 | 82.96% |
Saudi Arabia | 207 | 47 | 254 | 81.50% |
Mexico | 250 | 61 | 311 | 80.39% |
United States of America (the) | 5056 | 1350 | 6406 | 78.93% |
Nigeria leads the TOP10 countries’ list with the highest percentage of grounded fleets by airline and counting more than 100 registered aircraft. 69% of their fleet is grounded at the moment. They are followed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, Austria, Argentina, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Germany, and the Philippines.
Country | Active | Grounded | Total | % grounded |
Nigeria | 32 | 70 | 102 | 68.63% |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | 242 | 510 | 752 | 67.82% |
Hong Kong | 78 | 142 | 220 | 64.55% |
Austria | 83 | 148 | 231 | 64.07% |
Argentina | 38 | 67 | 105 | 63.81% |
Malaysia | 99 | 159 | 258 | 61.63% |
Singapore | 92 | 119 | 211 | 56.40% |
South Africa | 92 | 111 | 203 | 54.68% |
Germany | 247 | 284 | 531 | 53.48% |
Philippines (the) | 106 | 117 | 223 | 52.47% |
We have also analyzed the top 25 lessors (counting more than 50 aircraft in their fleet), with the most active aircraft in their portfolio.
We use ch-aviation fleets advanced and fleets ownership data for this analysis. To get the full and detailed insights on active and inactive aircraft, visit the following LINK.