Chur, Switzerland 10 August 2017 – Europe and China compete for world’s youngest fleets. Africa and North America come in last.
Who would expect that two European low-cost airlines would have some of the youngest aircraft in the world? As millions of people head to the airport to go on summer vacation, ch-aviation has crunched the numbers to find out who has the world’s youngest fleet.
In first place is Norwegian UK, taking out the title of world’s youngest fleet. The average age of a Norwegian UK plane is just under one year. Rounding out the rest of the world’s top five – all with an average fleet age of less than two years – are Colorful Guizhou Airlines and Loong Air from China, Germany’s Eurowings, and Swiss Global Air Lines.
“What our data clearly shows is the tremendous growth in Europe and Asia over the past few years while they move to lower-cost models,” said Thomas Jaeger, ch-aviation CEO. “And Chinese start-ups have the benefit of good access to capital for new aircraft.”
The bottom five was quite a different story, with Africa and North America doing battle for the oldest fleets. In bottom position is Kenya’s Fly SAX with an average aircraft age of 36 years old, followed by Nolinor Aviation (Canada), African Express Airways (Kenya), Western Air Bahamas, and Pacific Coastal Airlines (Canada).
“Obviously we see something quite different in Canada and Kenya, which both have a lot of smaller carriers operating in remote areas,” Jaeger says. “And many African airlines which want to expand simply don’t have the cash for brand new aircraft.”
Taking out top spots for youngest fleet on each continent were:
Africa – RwandAir;
Asia – Colorful Guizhou Airlines;
Europe – Norwegian UK;
Northern America – WestJet Encore;
Oceania – Air Tahiti;
South America – Conviasa.
A full list of the youngest and oldest fleets is below.
A note on methodology: ch-aviation included only commercial carriers with five or more aircraft with 30-plus seats.
Worldwide – youngest
| Operator | Average aircraft age | Home base | No of aircraft incl. |
| Norwegian UK | 0.99 | Europe | 5 |
| Colorful Guizhou Airlines | 1.21 | Asia | 6 |
| Loong Air | 1.73 | Asia | 22 |
| Eurowings | 1.77 | Europe | 23 |
| Swiss Global Air Lines | 1.78 | Europe | 19 |
Africa – youngest
| RwandAir | 4.21 | Rwanda | 12 |
| Kenya Airways | 5.11 | Kenya | 32 |
| Royal Air Maroc Express | 5.15 | Morocco | 5 |
| Air Arabia Maroc | 5.32 | Morocco | 7 |
| Air Austral | 5.53 | Reunion | 9 |
Asia – youngest
| Colorful Guizhou Airlines | 1.21 | China | 6 |
| Loong Air | 1.73 | China | 22 |
| Vistara | 1.81 | India | 15 |
| Batik Air | 1.97 | Indonesia | 49 |
| Qingdao Airlines | 2.05 | China | 13 |
Europe – youngest
| Norwegian UK | 0.99 | Norway | 5 |
| Eurowings | 1.77 | Germany | 23 |
| Swiss Global Air Lines | 1.78 | Switzerland | 19 |
| WOW air | 2.05 | Iceland | 15 |
| Canarias Airlines | 2.76 | Spain | 7 |
North America – Youngest
| WestJet Encore | 2.23 | Canada | 40 |
| LIAT | 3.34 | Antigua & Barbuda | 10 |
| Intel Aviation | 4.22 | USA | 6 |
| Volaris | 4.55 | Mexico | 67 |
| VivaAeroBus | 5.06 | Mexico | 23 |
Oceania – youngest
| Air Tahiti | 4.31 | French Polynesia | 10 |
| Virgin Australia International | 5.78 | Australia | 20 |
| Jetconnect | 6.97 | New Zealand | 8 |
| Air New Zealand | 7.04 | New Zealand | 54 |
| Virgin Australia | 7.18 | Australia | 90 |
South America – youngest
| Conviasa | 3.56 | Venezuela | 9 |
| LATAM Airlines Chile | 3.61 | Chile | 68 |
| Avianca Brasil | 4.18 | Brazil | 46 |
| Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras | 5.21 | Brazil | 124 |
| Avianca | 5.35 | Colombia | 96 |
Worldwide – oldest
| Operator | Average aircraft age | Home base | No of aircraft incl. |
| Fly SAX | 36.81 | Africa | 5 |
| Nolinor Aviation | 34.82 | North America | 6 |
| African Express Airways | 32.89 | Africa | 7 |
| Western Air Bahamas | 29.13 | North America | 7 |
| Pacific Coastal Airlines | 28.62 | North America | 7 |
Africa – oldest
| Fly SAX | 36.81 | Kenya | 5 |
| African Express Airways | 32.89 | Kenya | 7 |
| Global Aviation Operations | 28.08 | South Africa | 5 |
| Dana Air | 27.04 | Nigeria | 6 |
| Skyward Express | 26.33 | Kenya | 15 |
Asia – oldest
| Kam Air | 26.84 | Afghanistan | 6 |
| Trigana Air Service | 25.52 | Indonesia | 12 |
| Iran Aseman Airlines | 25.40 | Iran | 24 |
| Avia Traffic Company | 25.26 | Kyrgyzstan | 5 |
| Kish Air | 25.08 | Iran | 9 |
Europe – oldest
| Bukovyna Airlines | 27.66 | Ukraine | 5 |
| NextJet | 27.52 | Sweden | 13 |
| SprintAir | 26.45 | Poland | 5 |
| Bulgarian Air Charter | 25.88 | Bulgaria | 17 |
| DOT – Danu oro transportas | 25.85 | Lithuania | 9 |
North America – Oldest
| Nolinor Aviation | 34.82 | Canada | 6 |
| Western Air Bahamas | 29.13 | Bahamas | 7 |
| Pacific Coastal Airlines | 28.62 | Canada | 7 |
| Magnicharters | 28.16 | Mexico | 9 |
| Swift Air (USA) | 27.29 | USA | 11 |
Oceania – oldest
| Skippers Aviation | 25.10 | Australia | 18 |
| Alliance Airlines | 24.61 | Australia | 33 |
| Virgin Australia Regional | 24.50 | Australia | 16 |
| Network Aviation | 24.11 | Australia | 17 |
| Hevilift (PNG) | 23.83 | Papua New Guinea | 5 |
South America – oldest
| Peruvian Airlines | 27.19 | Peru | 12 |
| Laser Airlines | 26.96 | Venezuela | 9 |
| Aerovías DAP | 26.60 | Chile | 11 |
| Star Perú | 26.49 | Peru | 9 |
| Avior Airlines | 26.39 | Venezuela | 15 |
