How many planes are in the air right now?

Thanks to FlightAware we can get a ballpark number of how many planes are in the air right now.

Head to a major airport and you’ll see dozens of planes hurtling into the sky or coming back down to earth while departure and arrival boards are packed with hundreds of flights due to pass through.

It’s enough to make a curious traveller wonder, just how many planes are in the air right now?

According to FlightAware, a flight-tracking software company, the short answer is: a lot.

Since planes are constantly landing and taking off, the exact number fluctuates but in 2017, FlightAware calculated there were, on average, 9,729 commercial aeroplanes in the sky at any time.

FlightAware also shows the flight paths that don't go according to plan, like a plane that flew in a large loop to Dunedin and back. Image / FlightAware

It’s been a few tumultuous years since 2017 and due to the pandemic, this average has dropped around 10 to 20 per cent according to former airline pilot and FlightAware spokeswoman, Kathleen Bangs.

“We tend to see about 10,000 to 20,000 fewer flights per day since the pandemic and into 2021 and 2022,” Bangs told Travel + Leisure.

Today, that means there would be between 7,782 and 8,755 commercial planes in the air at any time.

Seasonality also plays a factor, Bangs added.

“Overall, summer months are the busiest for most countries, as that’s when they see the biggest demand for leisure travel, and of course, over major holidays and especially those that go over a long weekend,” she said.

“In the US, January is traditionally the lightest month for travel.”

These statistics also only count commercial flights, which FlightAware estimate made up approximately 46.4 per cent of flights in 2021. The number could sit closer to 15,500 to 17,500 after accounting for private jets, and military and cargo planes.

FlightAware tracks flights by using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). Since most planes have ADS-B transponders, which transmit information like location, airspeed and altitude to air traffic controllers, companies like FlightAware can use this public data.