For our fans of all ages: How high and fast does it fly?

How high can a plane fly?

The altitudes are based on the aircraft, its weight, and the current atmospheric conditions. Every flight has its own ideal cruising altitude. This is the sweet spot where plane fly as fast as possible, but burn the least amount of fuel. A Boeing 747 has a cross height of 35,105 ft, while the Embraer climbs 190 to 39,370 ft. The Airbus A380 can even fly at 43,097 ft. At the bottom of this page, you will find an overview of the cruising altitudes of the most common aircraft at Schiphol.

How fast can a plane fly?

Aircraft are extremely fast – certainly faster than your car or bicycle. Of course, the aircraft, its weight, and the current atmospheric conditions are of importance. The Airbus A380 can reach speeds of more than 1,000 kilometres per hour! Now the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (907 km/h) and Boeing 777 (905 km/h) aren’t that fast, but still three times faster than a Formula 1 racing car. See below the speeds of the most common aircraft on Schiphol.

How heavy is a plane?

The wider and bigger the plane, the heavier it is. The wide body aircraft, such as the Boeing 747 (183,520 kg) and Airbus A330 (120,000 kg), are heavier than the narrow body aircraft Boeing 737 (41,413 kg), Airbus A320 (42,400 kg) and Embraer 175 (21,890 kg). Planes have a maximum take-off weight. For the Airbus A380 it is 575,000 kilograms! You can find the empty weight and take-off weight of the most common aircraft at Schiphol below.

How many passengers can be seated on a plane?

That depends on how many seats there are in the aircraft. The larger planes, such as the Boeing 747, 777, 787 and the Airbus A330 and A380, have much more seats than the smaller Embraer 190, Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. The A380 can transport most passengers (516 seats), followed by the Boeing 747 and 777 (408 seats). Scroll down to see the number of seats in the most common planes at Schiphol.

How many aircraft are there at Schiphol?

In an average month like September, 746 aircraft will arrive at Schiphol and an almost equal number leaves again. This means that 1,492 airplanes per day taxi along our runways. The small aircraft are the most common. For example, the Airbus A320 is here 148 times a day, followed by the Boeing 737 (96) and the Embraer 190 (96). If we do not count the freighters, we welcome 11 Boeing 747s, 15 Dreamliners (787), 34 Airbus A330s and two Airbus A380s on average.

Plane facts and figures

* The figures in this table are an approximation and may differ by airline.