Fleet databases compared: Planespotters.net, Airfleets, RZjets and ch-aviation

The jet has landed, the registration sits sharp in the photo – and then the real research begins. How old is the aircraft, who did it fly for before, and is it new to your collection? Fleet databases exist for these questions. Four names come up again and again in spotter circles: Planespotters.net, Airfleets, RZjets and ch-aviation. They look similar at first glance but take very different approaches. This comparison shows you what each service can do, where its limits are and how to combine them sensibly.

Fleet databases compared: the short answer

For everyday spotting you use Planespotters.net or Airfleets as your main source: both cover commercial aviation broadly, with fleet lists by airline, production lists by type and histories of individual aircraft. You bring in RZjets when it comes to regional aircraft, because the database is particularly detailed there. ch-aviation is not a spotter tool but a paid industry service for airlines, airports, lessors and manufacturers. For hobby purposes it only pays off in exceptional cases.

The most important rule applies regardless of provider: no database is error-free. All are maintained by people, and all occasionally lag behind on re-registrations, deliveries or retirements. If you take your logbook seriously, you compare important details against a second source.

What a fleet database actually does

Before we compare the providers, it’s worth a look at the basic building blocks. Almost all fleet databases work with the same three views of the data:

• The individual aircraft: One record per airframe, linked via the manufacturer serial number. That includes type and subvariant, first flight, delivery, engines, all previous registrations and operators, and the current status (active, stored, scrapped). How MSN, c/n and line number relate is explained in the article MSN, c/n and line number.
• The fleet list: All aircraft of an airline, usually split into current and historical fleet. For spotters this is the basis for ticking off a fleet systematically – more on that in the guide Logging a complete fleet.
• The production list: All built examples of a type in serial number order. It shows you, for example, how many Airbus A350-900s have gone to which customers so far, or which Bombardier CRJ900s now fly with a new operator.

Depending on the provider, there are also photos, average fleet ages, orders, lessors and owners. It’s precisely in this additional data that the four services differ most.

Planespotters.net: the all-rounder with a photo community

For many spotters, Planespotters.net is the first port of call. The site combines an aircraft database with a photo archive: for many registrations you find not only the master data but also images from the community, which makes identification enormously easier. By its own account, the database tracks the history and status of every built example of the supported types and derives complete production lists as well as current and historical fleet lists from that. According to the provider, the information comes from many sources – including aviation authorities, airlines and manufacturers – and is checked by an editorial team.

In everyday use, Planespotters.net scores with a clear fleet view per airline that also shows the age of the aircraft. If you want to know how old a particular aircraft is, you usually find the answer here in seconds; the background is explained in the article Finding out an aircraft’s age. A detailed guide to search, filters and the photo section is in Using Planespotters.net as a fleet database.

Strengths: broad coverage of commercial aviation, link between data and photos, easy-to-read fleet lists. Limits: The database concentrates on the types it supports. With very small aircraft, in general aviation or with military aircraft you quickly hit limits – for military, Scramble is the better address.

Airfleets: dense data, compactly presented

Airfleets takes a similar approach to Planespotters.net, but feels more sober and more tabular. Here too you find fleet lists by airline, production lists by type and individual histories per aircraft, supplemented by photos. Many spotters appreciate the compact presentation: a production list can be scrolled through quickly, and status changes such as storage or scrapping are recognizable at a glance.

Besides the freely accessible area, Airfleets also offers paid memberships. What exactly is behind the paywall changes occasionally – it’s best to check for yourself before you sign up for a subscription. For simply looking up individual registrations, the free part is generally enough.

Strengths: compact lists, quick overview of whole types, good supplement as a second source. Limits: Some detailed features are reserved for paying members; with very fresh changes the usual rule applies: cross-check.

RZjets: the specialist for regional aircraft

RZjets is smaller than the two all-rounders, and that is exactly where its value lies. The database focuses on regional aircraft and covers these families particularly thoroughly. That is helpful especially for types that often move between regional airlines, lessors and capacity providers: an Embraer E175 can fly for several brands over its life, and a Dash 8-400 or an ATR 72-600 not infrequently changes between continents.

If you spot in North America, you know the problem particularly well: regional carriers such as SkyWest Airlines or Endeavor Air fly on behalf of big network airlines and carry their brand livery. The brand name is on the fuselage, but the aircraft is operated by another company. A specialist database helps you keep such arrangements cleanly apart.

Strengths: great depth of detail on regional aircraft, useful for complex operator histories. Limits: If you look up widebody jets or classic medium-haul fleets, you’re better off with the all-rounders.

ch-aviation: industry data instead of a hobby tool

ch-aviation plays in a different league – deliberately. The service began in 1998 as a schoolboy’s hobby site, initially focused on Swiss aviation; the “ch” in the name stands for Switzerland’s country code. In the 2000s, worldwide coverage, production lists for Airbus and Boeing types and operator profiles were added. Since a relaunch in 2012, ch-aviation has been a subscription-based professional service. Since 2021, ch-aviation GmbH has been based in Stansstad in the canton of Nidwalden.

The offering goes far beyond fleet lists: operator and airport profiles, schedules and capacities, ownership and leasing data, orders, aircraft utilization, accidents and incidents, maintenance data and data on business jets. Industry news comes on top. According to its own website, the database includes over 45,000 operators and over 110,000 aircraft (as of the website in October 2026). The target groups are airlines, airports, charter brokers, leasing and financing companies, manufacturers and maintenance providers. To try it out, the provider offers a free 14-day trial.

Strengths: professional depth of data, ownership and leasing data, schedules and industry news from a single source. Limits: paid and tailored to companies. For looking up individual registrations that is overkill. The industry news is still interesting for spotters to hear about new arrivals and fleet changes – as far as it is accessible without a subscription.

The four databases head to head

Criterion	Planespotters.net	Airfleets	RZjets	ch-aviation
Target audience	Spotters and aviation fans	Spotters and aviation fans	Spotters focused on regional aviation	Aviation industry
Focus	Commercial aviation, broad	Commercial aviation, broad	Regional aircraft	Operators, fleets, schedules, owners
Photos	yes, community photos	yes	depending on the entry	not a focus, data-centered
Production lists	yes	yes	yes, for the types covered	yes, for large airliner types
Owners/leasing	partly	partly	partly	in detail
Cost	basic functions free to use	free to use, membership optional	free to use	subscription, trial possible
Best use	quick lookup with photo	second source, type overview	regional jets and turboprops	industry-level research

The table describes priorities, not rigid boundaries. All providers keep restructuring their offerings; individual features can shift.

Which database fits you?

Why databases contradict each other

Sooner or later you come across an aircraft where two databases give different information: a different delivery date, a differing status, a registration that has already been changed here and not yet there. That is normal and usually has simple reasons.

• Time lag: A re-registration often only becomes known when the aircraft is photographed with its new registration or the register is updated. Each editorial team works at its own pace.
• Different sources: One database relies more on registers, the other on sighting reports from the community. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
• Leasing and offshore registers: Many aircraft are registered in countries where their operator isn’t based at all. Why that is, is explained in the article Offshore registrations and leasing. Databases represent such arrangements differently.
• Questions of definition: From when does an aircraft count as “stored,” when as “parked”? Such terms aren’t used the same way everywhere.

How to use fleet databases in everyday spotting

The real strength of the databases only shows with a fixed routine. This process has proven itself:

How to build your logbook in general is explained in the guide Documenting sightings. Whether paper, spreadsheet or app suits you better is compared in Notebook, spreadsheet or app. And if you build your collection by registration, you’ll find inspiration in Collecting registrations.

Pros and cons: community database or professional service?

For most spotters the answer is clear: community databases for the daily routine, professional services only when you need them for work. Industry news is still exciting, for example when you want to understand how airlines plan their fleets.

What to watch out for

• Respect the terms of use. Looking things up is welcome; copying in bulk or scraping whole lists automatically usually is not.
• Note the source. When you take a detail from a database, briefly note where it came from. If contradictions come up later, you know where to look.
• Sort by MSN instead of registration. Registrations get reassigned, even to completely different aircraft. The MSN is unique.
• Report errors. The community databases live on tips. Anyone with a documented correction helps all the other spotters.
• Treat fresh data with caution. Especially with new deliveries and re-registrations from the last few days, the likelihood of gaps is greatest.

For a broader overview of other sources – including registers, manufacturer lists and military databases – see the article Fleet databases overview.

Conclusion

Planespotters.net, Airfleets, RZjets and ch-aviation are not competitors in the narrow sense but tools for different jobs. The two all-rounders cover everyday spotting, RZjets provides depth on regional aircraft, and ch-aviation serves the industry with data that goes far beyond the hobby. What matters is not which database has the most entries, but that you have a fixed routine: look up, cross-check when in doubt and record cleanly with the MSN.