Aircraft manufacturers

Deutsche Aircraft

since 2020

The only German manufacturer of regional airliners: from Oberpfaffenhofen, Deutsche Aircraft supports the Dornier 328 and builds the stretched D328eco on its basis. Since September 2026, a final assembly line of its own has stood at Leipzig/Halle Airport for it.

Diehl Aviation

since 2007

The cabin and systems supplier from the Diehl group builds what you see around you when you fly: lighting, overhead bins, lavatories, galleys and crew rest compartments. Add water, oxygen and fire protection systems, plus avionics developed with Thales through the subsidiary Diehl Aerospace.

Dornier

since 1922

From Lake Constance to the world: Dornier built metal flying boats like the Wal and Do X, after the war short-takeoff aircraft like the Do 27 and later the 228 and 328 regional aircraft. The manufacturer no longer exists – but its aircraft keep flying, and two of them are still being developed today.

Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH

since 1986

From Hallbergmoos near Munich, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH steers the largest European combat aircraft program. Behind it stand Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo – and four final assembly lines in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.

Lufthansa Technik

since 1995

The Lufthansa Group’s largest maintenance and modification company is based at Hamburg Airport: engines, components, landing gear, cabin retrofits and VIP completion for customers worldwide. For spotters, LHT is above all one thing – a magnet for government aircraft, private widebody jets and aircraft you would otherwise never see in Germany.

MTU Aero Engines

since 1934

MTU Aero Engines doesn’t build aircraft, yet it is inside a great many of them: the Munich engine maker supplies turbines and compressors for the geared turbofan of the A320neo, for the 747-8, 787, A380 and Eurofighter, and overhauls around 1,500 engines and industrial gas turbines every year. For spotters, MTU is the key to the question of what is actually hanging under the wing.

Premium Aerotec

since 2009

No aircraft of its own, but fuselage shells for almost every Airbus: Premium Aerotec built structures for the A320, A350, A400M and Eurofighter in Augsburg, Nordenham, Bremen and Varel. Since July 2025 the brand has been fully absorbed into Airbus Aerostructures – the plants keep working.

Diamond Aircraft

since 1981

Diamond Aircraft of Wiener Neustadt builds light aircraft from composite materials – from the two-seat DA20 Katana through the DA40 and DA42 trainers to the seven-seat DA62. Slim glider-style wings, a T-tail and jet-fuel diesels make the family unmistakable at any airfield.

FACC

since 1989

A ski maker’s research department grew into one of aviation’s most important composite suppliers. FACC of Ried im Innkreis builds Sharklets for the A320 family, flaps, spoilers, tail parts, engine nacelle components and entire cabin interiors – for Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Bombardier and many more.

Pilatus Aircraft

since 1939

Pilatus of Stans has been building aircraft in central Switzerland since 1939 – from the PC-6 Porter bush plane and the PC-7, PC-9 and PC-21 trainers to the single-engine PC-12 and the PC-24 business jet. If you can tell the families apart by propeller, cockpit and tail, you have a head start on any business aviation apron.

Fokker

since 1912

For decades, Fokker was the big name in Dutch aviation: first fighters in World War I, then the F.VII, later the F27, F28, Fokker 50, 70 and 100. In 1996 the manufacturer went bankrupt. Here you learn how it came to that, what is left of the company and where you can still get Fokker types in your lens today.

Airbus

since 1970

European aerospace company and one of the two big manufacturers of commercial aircraft – with aircraft families from the A220 to the A350.

Airbus Helicopters

since 1992

The world’s largest helicopter manufacturer has German-French roots: headquarters in Marignane, a second base in Donauwörth. That is where the H135 and H145 come from – the helicopters you see most often in Germany as air rescue, police and Bundeswehr aircraft.

ATR

since 1981

The French-Italian manufacturer ATR has built just two aircraft since the 1980s – the ATR 42 and the ATR 72. High wing, T-tail, propellers: once you understand the family, you recognize it everywhere, from Lanzarote to the Greek islands.

Dassault Aviation

since 1929

Dassault Aviation builds fighter jets and the Falcon family of business jets in France. For spotters, that means Rafales at air shows and military airfields, Falcons at every larger airport with business travel – and a few features at the tail let you tell the models apart with confidence.

Liebherr Aerospace

since 1960

You know the name from construction cranes, but Liebherr also builds aircraft systems: landing gear, flight control actuators and gearboxes from the Allgäu, air and climate systems from Toulouse. From the A350’s nose gear to the folding wingtips of the 777X, the family-owned group is inside many types you photograph at the fence.

Safran

since 2005

Safran builds no aircraft – and still sits inside a large share of the airliners you see at the fence. The French group supplies the engines for the A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX through CFM International, powers helicopters and the Rafale, and builds landing gear, brakes and cabins. Here you learn how to recognize Safran technology in the field.

Thales

since 2000 (Umbenennung von Thomson-CSF, gegründet 1968)

Thales doesn’t build aircraft, but it is inside a great many of them: avionics in Airbus and ATR cockpits, air traffic control systems that according to Thales monitor around 40 percent of the world’s airspace, radars and navigation aids at airports, in-flight entertainment in the cabin and sensors in the Rafale.

Leonardo

since 1948

Leonardo of Rome is more than a name on a helicopter door: The Italian group builds the AW139 and AW169, jet trainers and transports, holds half of ATR and makes fuselage parts for Boeing and Airbus. Here is how to recognize its traces at the airport.

BAE Systems

since 1999

BAE Systems is Britain’s largest aerospace and defense group. For spotters it stands for a whole slice of aviation history: the four-engine Jumbolino BAe 146/Avro RJ, the Red Arrows’ Hawk trainer and the British side of Tornado, Eurofighter and F-35.

Rolls-Royce

since 1906

British engine maker with over a hundred years of aviation history: the Trent family powers the A330, A350, A380 and Boeing 787, while the business jet engines come from Dahlewitz near Berlin. For spotters, Rolls-Royce is the question behind the question – which engine is actually hanging under the wing?

Saab

since 1937

Saab of Sweden has two faces: for airline spotters the name stands for the Saab 340 and Saab 2000 turboprops that still fly with regional airlines today. At airshows and military airfields it is the Gripen – and with the GlobalEye, Saab builds a flying radar based on a business jet.

Boeing

since 1916

Boeing is the American counterpart to Airbus and has built airliners in series since the 707. If you can tell the 737, 777 and 787 apart by landing gear, wingtips and tail, you can identify a large share of the traffic at any European airport – even without a livery clue.

CFM International

since 1974

The joint venture of GE Aerospace and Safran builds the engines you see most often while spotting: the CFM56 for the classic A320 family, the 737 Classic and NG, and the LEAP for the A320neo, 737 MAX and C919. Every Boeing 737 since the -300 flies with CFM.

Cirrus Aircraft

since 1984

The manufacturer from Duluth has turned general aviation upside down: composite fuselage, glass cockpit and a parachute for the whole aircraft. Here you will learn how a kit-plane project became the largest light aircraft builder in the US and how to reliably recognize the SR22 and Vision Jet.

Collins Aerospace

since 2018

It builds no aircraft of its own, yet a piece of it is in almost every one: Collins Aerospace supplies avionics, head-up displays, landing gear, seats, galleys and datalink – and through its subsidiary FlightAware it is even one of the tools spotters use to track flights.

GE Aerospace

since 1917

The US engine maker from Evendale near Cincinnati is behind some of the biggest fans ever hung under a wing: the CF6 for the 747, 767 and MD-11, the GE90 for the Boeing 777, the GEnx for the 787 and 747-8, and the GE9X for the 777X. If you spot widebodies, GE is almost always in your frame.

Gulfstream Aerospace

since 1958

Gulfstream of Savannah, Georgia, stands like hardly any other name for the large business jet. From the Gulfstream I turboprop through the G550 and G650 to the G800 – here you learn how the family grew and how to tell the models apart on the apron.

Honeywell Aerospace

since 1936

The supplier from Phoenix builds no aircraft but is inside almost every one: auxiliary power units in the tail of the 737 and A320, glass cockpits in business jets, ground proximity warning systems and engines such as the TFE731 and HTF7000. Since June 2026, Honeywell Aerospace has been an independent company.

Lockheed Martin

since 1995

Lockheed Martin today builds almost only military aircraft, but the legacy runs from the triple-tailed Constellation through the TriStar widebody to the Hercules and the F-35. If you know the shapes, you recognize Lockheed types at an air base fence as surely as in a museum.

McDonnell Douglas

since 1967

A historic US manufacturer, formed in 1967 from McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft and absorbed into Boeing in 1997. Its rear-engine jets – the DC-9, MD-80, DC-10 and MD-11 – shaped decades of air travel and are sought-after subjects for spotters today.

Piper Aircraft

since 1927

A yellow high-wing taildragger, a low-wing trainer with one door on the right, a pressurized turboprop: behind all these types stands Piper Aircraft of Vero Beach, Florida. Here you’ll learn how the Cub grew into a whole aircraft family, how to tell the Cherokee, Seminole and M-Class apart and where to get Pipers in front of your lens.

Pratt & Whitney

since 1925

A US engine maker from Connecticut that shaped the short-haul jet age of the 1960s with the JT8D, powered the jumbo with the JT9D and today hangs under the A220, A320neo and E2 with the PW1000G geared turbofan. For spotters, P&W is the reason so many Neos sat on the ground for a while.

Spirit AeroSystems

since 2005

Almost every 737 fuselage of the last decades came from Wichita: Spirit AeroSystems was the largest independent manufacturer of aircraft structures, built for Boeing and Airbus – and was split between the two in December 2025.

Textron Aviation

since 2014

A Skyhawk at the airfield, a Citation at the business jet terminal, a King Air with the air ambulance service, a Caravan in FedEx’s cargo network: behind all of these types stands Textron Aviation of Wichita. Here you learn how Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker came under one roof, how to tell the families apart and where to catch them in Europe.