How Much Do Airplanes Weigh? (With 20 Examples) - Pilot Teacher

To this day it still amazes me how something that can weigh so much can even get airborne! Some of the weights that airplanes take off are staggering. In this article, I want to look at some of the most recognizable aircraft and break down what they weigh and what makes up the weight.

The Boeing 737 can weigh from 132,000lbs/60,000kg to 187,000lbs/85,000kg at takeoff depending on the model, compared to a small Cessna 172 weighing around 2,400lb/1,11kg. An aircraft’s empty weight, fuel, passengers & cargo must not weigh more than the aircraft’s Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight.

The weight of the aircraft is needed to be calculated by the pilot for every flight to ensure the aircraft remains within the weight limitations set by the manufacturer. These limitations are to ensure the aircraft is able to perform and recover from all flight maneuvers and withstand structural loading.

Typical Airplane Weights

Below is a table of some of the most common aircraft flying around our skies today:

Aircraft	Empty Weight	Max Fuel Weight	Max Cargo Weight	Max Gross Takeoff Weight
Antanov AN-225	628,000 lbs285,000 kg	661,400 lbs300,000 kg	417,000 lbs190,000 kg	1,411,000 lbs640,000 kg
Airbus A380-800	611,000 lbs277,000 kg	560,000 lbs254,000 kg	185,000 lbs84,000 kg	1,268,000 lbs575,000 kg
Boeing 747-800	485,300 lbs220,100 kg	427,400 lbs194,000 kg	295,000 lbs134,000 kg	987,000 lbs447,700 kg
Airbus A340-500	370,000 lbs168,000 kg	386,300 lbs175,000 kg	119,000 lbs54,000 kg	820,000 lbs372,000 kg
Boeing 777-300ER	370,000 lbs 168,000 kg	320,800 lbs 145,500 kg	148,000 lbs67,100 kg	776,000 lbs352,000 kg
Boeing 787-10	299,000 lbs 135,500 kg	223,500 lbs101,500 kg	126,300 lbs 57,300 kg	560,000 lbs254,000 kg
Boeing 737-900	98,500 lbs44,700 kg	53,100 lbs24,000 kg	44,600 lbs20,200 kg	187,000 lbs85,000 kg
Airbus A320-100	93,900 lbs42,600 kg	48,700 lbs22,100 kg	44,000 lbs20,000 kg	150,000 lbs68,000 kg
Embraer 190	63,500 lbs28,800 kg	28,600 lbs13,000 kg	28,800 lbs13,100 kg	106,000 lbs48,000 kg
Gulfstream G650	54,000 lbs 24,500 kg	48,200 lbs 21,900 kg	6,500 lbs3,000 kg	100,000 lbs45,200 kg
Bombardier CRJ900	48,160 lbs 21,850 kg	19,600 lbs 8,900 kg	6,075 lbs 2,760 kg	80,500 lbs36,500 kg
Bombardier Q400	39,300 lbs17,800 kg	11,700 lbs5,300 kg	18,700 lbs8,500 kg	62,000 lbs28,000 kg
Learjet 75	13,900 lbs 6,300 kg	6,060 lbs2,750 kg	2,900 lbs1,300 kg	21,500 lbs9,700 kg
Cessna Citation CJ4	10,300 lbs 4,700 kg	5,800 lbs2,650 kg	2,200 lbs 1,000 kg	17,200 lbs7,800 kg
Beechcraft King Air B100	7,100 lbs 3,200 kg	3,200 lbs1,450 kg	4,150 lbs1,900 kg	12,000 lbs5,400 kg
Diamond DA50 RG	3,200 lbs1,450 kg	340 lbs155 lbs	1,250 lbs560 kg	4,400 lbs2,000 kg
Beechcraft Bonanza G36	2,500 lbs 1,150 kg	450 lbs200 kg	850 lbs385 kg	3,660 lbs1,660 kg
Cessna 206H	2,200 lbs990 kg	520 lbs235 kg	1,150 lbs520 kg	3,600 lbs1,630 kg
Sirrus SR22	2,250 lbs 1,000 kg	485 lbs220 kg	950 lbs430 kg	3,600 lbs1,630 kg
Cessna 172R	1,700 lbs770 kg	380 lbs170 kg	560 lbs255 kg	2,425 lbs1,100 kg

What Do Aircraft Weight Names Mean?

You may have been looking at the table above and thinking the numbers don’t work out because if you took the Aircraft Empty Weight and added the Maximum Fuel Weight and Maximum Cargo it could carry, it could be well over the aircraft’s Maximum Gross Weight.

Welcome to the world of aviation! This is where a compromise of fuel vs cargo/passengers is required and is referred to as the Useful Load.

Aircraft Empty Weight (AEW)

This is sometimes referred to as OEW – Operating Empty Weight and it is the weight of the aircraft with all its equipment on board but no fuel, no passengers, or no cargo.

Think of this like the aircraft has just come out of the factory and is sitting waiting to be fueled up for delivery to the customer.

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Aircraft Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight (MGTW)

This is the maximum permissible weight the aircraft can weigh as it lifts off the ground at takeoff. This includes the aircraft’s empty weight, the fuel, the crew, the passengers, and all the cargo.

This weight limit is set by the manufacturer and is gospel. Many aircraft accidents have been caused by an aircraft being overweight and the pilot/s have not had enough power or maneuverability to prevent the accident.

Aircraft Useful Load

This is the weight that a pilot can place in the aircraft. Take the MGTW figure and subtract the AEW and this is the total useful load that can be placed into the aircraft. This is the fuel, crew, passengers, and cargo. The bigger the load, the more useful the aircraft can be to its customers!

How Fuel, Passengers & Cargo Affect Aircraft Weight

Each item of weight added to the aircraft has to be accounted for and some items can be left off the flight and others not so much. There are several scenarios we can look at, and for these examples, I will use the Astar helicopter I fly, as it is really easy for me to work out the numbers:

AS350 Astar B2 Helicopter Specs:

Aircraft Empty Weight: 3000 lbsAircraft Maximum Gross Weight: 4961 lbsAircraft Maximum Fuel Weight: 1000 lbsAircraft Useful Load: 1961 lbs

Scenario #1: All Fuel & No Cargo or Passengers

This would be on a flight when I have finished a job and I am returning back to the hanger after dropping off the passengers and their cargo:

• Aircraft Empty Weight: 3000 lbs
• Pilot Weight: 185 lbs
• Aircraft Full Fuel Weight: 1000 lbs
• Total Aircraft Weight = 4,185 lbs (776 lbs under MGTW)

Scenario #2: Full Passengers & 200 lbs of Cargo

This would be on a flight when I am starting a job in the morning and I am departing from the hanger with a work crew and their tools:

• Aircraft Empty Weight: 3000 lbs
• Pilot Weight: 185 lbs
• Passengers Weight: 950 lbs
• Cargo Weight: 200 lbs
• Aircraft Full Fuel Weight: 1000 lbs
• Total Aircraft Weight = 5,335 lbs (374 lbs OVER MGTW)

In this scenario, I would need to offload weight. The 3 variables are:-

• Passengers
• Cargo
• Fuel

Usually, the passengers and their cargo need to go as they are the ones doing the work, so fuel has to be reduced. Instead of filling the aircraft fuel tank up to 100%, I can only fill it to around 60% to keep the aircraft under its MGTW.

This just means that I may need to refuel more often or plan the day to have a fuel stop en route somewhere.

If you would like to know how much fuel today’s modern commercial airplanes can carry and how much it costs to fill them please check out this article:

How Much Fuel Do Airplanes Carry?

To Finish

Because the maximum Gross Takeoff Weight of an aircraft is so important it a listed in the Limitations Section of every aircraft flight manual. The exceedance of any weight in the limitations section deems the aircraft unairworthy.

Even the mammoth Antanov AN-225 has a maximum weight limit that the flight crew must adhere to, albeit considerably higher than the maximum takeoff weight of a Gulfstream G650!

This compromise is what pilots do for every flight to ensure the maximum fuel can be taken given the load to be lifted by the aircraft. No matter what aircraft are taking to the skies, the same calculations are the same for every aircraft! Fuel, Passengers, Cargo – That’s all the pilots can manipulate!

Further Reading

If you found this article interesting and would like to keep reading, I highly recommend the following articles from my blog:

• How Much Do Helicopters Weigh? 20 Awesome Examples
• Why are Unpainted Aircraft Green or Yellow?
• Planes Landing Sideways – Why Not just Land Straight?
• How Do Pilots Know When To Takeoff?
• Aviation Weather Information: How do Pilots Get It?