Fleet databases overview: Airfleets, Planespotters.net, RZJets and more

A photo with a sharp registration is only the beginning. Then come the questions: which subtype is that, how old is the aircraft, where did it fly before, and are you still missing it in your collection? Fleet databases provide the answers. The best-known names are Airfleets, Planespotters.net and RZJets, but around them there is a whole range of other sources: government registries, photo archives, accident databases, military lists and industry services. This overview sorts the landscape by purpose. That way you know where to look for which question.

If you only want to weigh the big databases directly against each other, you’ll find the detailed assessment in the article Fleet databases compared. Here it’s about the big picture.

Fleet databases: the short answer

For most questions after a sighting, two community databases are enough: Planespotters.net or Airfleets as the main source, a second one for cross-checking. RZJets is a popular choice for that. For special questions there are special sources: Scramble for military aircraft, the Aviation Safety Network for accidents and incidents, the national aircraft registers for the official registration status and ch-aviation as a paid industry service. The link between all sources is the manufacturer serial number (MSN).

What all fleet databases have in common

However different the providers seem, almost all of them work with the same basic framework under the surface. Each aircraft is a record, and that record hangs on the serial number, not on the registration. That gives three views:

• The individual history: Type and subvariant, MSN and often the line number, first flight, delivery, engines, all registrations and operators in chronological order, and the current status – active, stored, converted or scrapped. What distinguishes MSN, c/n and line number is explained in the article MSN, c/n and line number.
• The fleet list: all aircraft of an airline, usually split into current and former fleet, often with average age. With it you tick off a fleet systematically – see Logging a complete fleet.
• The production list: all built examples of a type in serial number order. It shows, for example, where the first Airbus A320neo were delivered or which Boeing 737-800s have since been converted to freighters.

The differences are in the details: how many types are covered, whether photos are included, how quickly changes are entered and what sits behind a paywall.

The all-rounders: Planespotters.net and Airfleets

Planespotters.net

Planespotters.net combines a database of civil commercial aviation with a large photo archive from the community. According to the operator, the production lists cover all common modern civil airliner types, from turboprop to four-engine widebody jet, supplemented by some historical types. For many registrations you see photos right away, which makes identification easier when you’re unsure about a livery or variant. There is also photo news about new liveries and an overview of fresh deliveries.

What the platform offers in detail is in the profile Planespotters.net explained. A practical guide to search, filters and fleet views is in Using Planespotters.net as a fleet database.

Airfleets

Airfleets takes a similar approach, but presents the data in a more sober, more tabular way. Here too there are fleet lists by airline, production lists by type and individual histories with photos. Many spotters appreciate the compactness: a complete production list can be skimmed quickly, and status changes such as storage or scrapping stand out immediately. Besides the freely accessible area, Airfleets offers paid memberships. What exactly is behind them changes occasionally – check directly on the site before signing up. For looking up individual registrations, the free part is generally enough.

The supplements: RZJets, Airport-Data and others

RZJets

RZJets is smaller and plainer than the two all-rounders. The site lists aircraft with registration, serial number, operator changes and status and is free to use. Many spotters use RZJets as a second source when Planespotters.net and Airfleets contradict each other or a change is still missing there. This is especially useful for regional aircraft, which often move between regional airlines, lessors and capacity providers – for example Embraer E175s at US capacity providers such as SkyWest Airlines or Republic Airways, or ATR 72-600s at regional airlines. How to tell E-Jets apart in the first place is explained in Telling Embraer E-Jets apart.

Airport-Data

Airport-Data combines a photo archive with an aircraft and airport database. According to its own homepage, it includes over 700,000 aircraft profiles, searchable by registration, serial number, model or country (as of the website in October 2026). The holdings are clearly US-heavy: by far the largest part of the entries concerns aircraft registered in the USA, plus profiles of US and international airports. That means many light aircraft and business jets that are missing from pure airliner databases appear there too. The provider itself describes its photo review as loose – so you should read the information more as a hint than as an established status.

Photo archives as a data source

The big photo platforms are also databases indirectly: every accepted photo carries registration, type, airline, place and date. If you want to know when an aircraft was last seen in a certain livery, a search on JetPhotos or Airliners.net is often faster than any fleet list. How to publish there yourself is covered in Uploading photos to JetPhotos and Airliners.net upload tips.

The specialists for special questions

Scramble: military aviation

Military aircraft hardly appear in the civil databases. Here Scramble is the scene’s standard source, with databases on air forces, units and serial numbers. What the site offers and how to use it is explained in the article Scramble. For special liveries on military jets, it’s also worth a look at NATO Tiger Meet.

Aviation Safety Network: accidents and incidents

The Aviation Safety Network was founded in January 1996 by Harro Ranter and is now operated by the Flight Safety Foundation. The accident database contains over 23,000 reports on airliners, military transports and corporate jets, going back to 1919. There is also a community-maintained Wikibase with over 258,000 entries on light aircraft, military, helicopters, gliders and more. For spotters this is relevant when an aircraft suddenly shows up in a fleet list as “written off” and you want to know the background. When photographing incidents, clear limits apply in Germany; more on that in Photos of aircraft accidents and emergency landings.

ch-aviation: industry data with a subscription

ch-aviation began in autumn 1998 as the free website of a 15-year-old schoolboy, initially with profiles, fleets and route networks of Swiss airlines. Since a worldwide relaunch in March 2012, the service has been subscription-based. Its customers are mainly airlines, airports, charter brokers, leasing and financing companies, manufacturers and maintenance providers; according to the provider, there is a free 14-day trial. For individual registrations that is overkill. It gets interesting when you research owners, lessors or fleet planning – background on that is in Aircraft leasing explained and How airlines plan their fleets.

Government registries: the official status

In the end, all community databases mirror what is in the official aircraft registers – with more or less delay. Where a state makes its register publicly searchable, you have the most reliable source for the question of whether a registration is currently assigned and to which serial number.

Openness varies widely. In Germany, private individuals get information from the Luftfahrzeugrolle (the German aircraft register) only if they have a legitimate interest. The US FAA registry and the British G-INFO, by contrast, are freely searchable and partly allow searching by the 24-bit hex code. That’s how they bridge to ADS-B data. The overview of the registers is in Looking up aircraft registers, details on the British system are in British G registrations, and on the hex code in ICAO 24-bit address.

Why so many airliners are registered not in their airline’s home country but in Ireland, Malta or Bermuda is explained in Offshore registrations and leasing. That matters when you search a country’s register and don’t find the aircraft there.

All sources at a glance

Source	Focus	Typical question	Cost
Planespotters.net	civil commercial aviation with photos	How old is this aircraft, where did it fly before?	basic functions free
Airfleets	civil commercial aviation, tabular	Where are all examples of this type today?	free, membership optional
RZJets	compact aircraft data, second source	Is the information from the first database correct?	free
Airport-Data	aircraft and airports, US focus	What is known about this Cessna or this business jet?	free
Scramble	military aviation	Which unit does this serial number belong to?	basic functions free
Aviation Safety Network	accidents and incidents	Why was this aircraft retired?	free
Government registries	official registration status	Is the registration currently assigned?	free or restricted depending on country
ch-aviation	industry data, owners, schedules	Who is the lessor, what does fleet planning look like?	subscription

The cost information roughly describes the status as of October 2026. Providers restructure their offerings regularly, and individual features can shift.

How to research a registration cleanly

A routine saves time and prevents errors in your logbook. The process works with any database.

How to write the details directly into the image file is shown in Captioning photos properly. A comparison of different logbook methods is in Notebook, spreadsheet or app.

Typical sources of error

Even well-maintained databases are not free of errors. These situations most often lead to wrong entries:

• Reused registrations: After years, a registration can go to a completely different aircraft. Without a date check, the wrong MSN quickly ends up in your logbook.
• Fresh changes: Deliveries, re-registrations and storage don’t appear everywhere at the same time. What happened yesterday may still be missing in the database.
• Wet lease and third-party operation: An aircraft in brand livery can be operated by another company. The database then sometimes names the operator, sometimes the brand.
• Subvariants: Designations such as 737-8 and 737 MAX 8 or short codes such as A20N mean the same thing. How type codes are built is explained in ICAO type codes explained.
• Fleet numbers instead of registrations: Some airlines carry internal numbers on the nose or gear door. They don’t belong in the registration field – more in Airline fleet numbers.

Which source do you need right now?

Use them fairly

Behind most community databases are small teams and many volunteers who submit sightings, photos and corrections. A few ground rules keep the system running:

• Look up, yes; copy, no. Taking individual details for your logbook is the usual use. Copying whole lists or scraping them automatically is generally prohibited by the terms of use.
• Report errors. If you can prove a discrepancy – for example with a dated photo – use the database’s correction function. Everyone benefits.
• Photos are not common property. Images in databases belong to their photographers. For your own publications you need their permission.

Conclusion

Fleet databases are the memory of the spotting scene. Planespotters.net and Airfleets cover everyday needs, RZJets is the proven second source, and for military, general aviation, accidents or industry data there are specialized services. The official status comes from the registers of the states of registry, as far as they are public. What matters less is the choice of database than the routine: registration, MSN, date, second source, photo.