Aircraft Type Codes
That cryptic “aircraft: 738” on your booking? Search the code — or the model — to see exactly what you’re flying, with both the IATA and ICAO codes and the body type.
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Popular aircraft
Airbus A320neo
Narrow-bodyBoeing 737 MAX 8
Narrow-bodyBoeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Wide-bodyAirbus A350-900
Wide-bodyAirbus A321neo (incl. LR/XLR)
Narrow-bodyBoeing 777-300ER
Wide-bodyAirbus A220-300
Narrow-bodyEmbraer E175
Regional jetA curated list of the aircraft you’re most likely to fly — the IATA code is the one shown on most bookings (“738”), the ICAO designator is the four-character one (“B738”). It isn’t the full register, and some families share or split codes across sub-variants. For the complete official list, search ICAO Doc 8643.
Related tools
What plane is “738”?
A “738” is a Boeing 737-800, one of the most common narrow-body jets in the world (its ICAO designator is B738). The codes on a booking are aircraft type codes: a short IATA equipment code like 738, 32N or 789, or the four-character ICAO designator like B738 or A20N. Search any code, manufacturer or model above to see exactly which aircraft it is.
Methodology: The lookup is a curated list of the airliners passengers most often fly, each tagged with its ICAO type designator (ICAO Doc 8643), its IATA equipment code where one is unambiguous, the manufacturer and model, and the body type. Codes were verified against published references — the IATA and ICAO designator listings, SkyBrary and manufacturer data — rather than recalled from memory, and any sub-variant code that sources genuinely disagree on is left blank rather than guessed. It isn't the full ICAO register (which spans thousands of types); the search links through to the official Doc 8643 lookup for anything not covered. How we test & calculate.
The third piece of the booking puzzle
A flight involves three sets of codes: the airport, the airline, and the aircraft. The first two are easy to look up; the aircraft is the one that leaves people guessing, because it usually appears as a bare three-character code — “aircraft: 738” — with no explanation. This tool is the missing decoder: type the code and find out you’re on a Boeing 737-800, an Airbus A320neo, or a 787-9 Dreamliner.
Two codes for every plane
Aircraft, like airlines and airports, carry both an IATA and an ICAO code. The IATA equipment code is the short one on your ticket — 738, 32N, 789. The ICAO type designator is the four-character version that flight plans and controllers use — B738, A20N, B789. They describe the same aircraft, so this tool shows both, and you can search by either, or just type the model or manufacturer if that’s all you know.
Knowing your aircraft is useful
Beyond curiosity, the type tells you a lot about the flight: whether it’s a narrow-body for a shorter hop or a wide-body built for long haul, roughly how many seats to expect, and which seat-map to look up. Pair it with the flight tracker to watch your specific aircraft in the air, or the airline-code and airport-code tools to decode the rest of your itinerary.
Checked, not guessed
Every code here was verified against published IATA and ICAO references rather than filled in from memory, and where sources genuinely disagree on a sub-variant’s code it’s left blank instead of shown as a guess. The list covers the aircraft passengers actually fly rather than the entire register, so for an unusual type the search box links straight to the official ICAO Doc 8643 lookup.
Frequently Asked Questions
They’re two parallel systems. The IATA equipment code is the short three-character one airlines and booking sites use — “738” for a Boeing 737-800, “32N” for an Airbus A320neo. The ICAO type designator (from ICAO Doc 8643) is the four-character one used in flight plans and air-traffic systems — “B738”, “A20N”. This tool shows both for each aircraft, since which one you see depends on where you’re looking.