Ever looked up and wondered if the plane flying over you is an Airbus or Boeing?
Turns out there is a simple way to determine the difference – Simply look at the navigation lights (also called position lights) on the end of the wings!
The navigation lights flash to indicate a few things, the aircraft position, heading or status. Most also are colour-coded red and green to tell the orientation as well!
Now onto to telling the differences, think about it this way. If you think of the syllables of Airbus, it has one, so the lights flash once! Boeing on the other hand has two, Boe-ing, so you will see two flashes. Also Boeing have a flashing light or two on the tail cone.
At night it can be difficult to tell what you’re looking at. Now you have a bit more of an idea of what aircraft you are looking at. Other manufacturers may be the same or different but for the two giants of the aviation world you can spot them!
Are you team Boeing or Airbus? Let us know!
Matt Kitchen
Matt is one of the founders of Final Approach. Matt is based in the North West of England and can usually be found on the south side of Manchester Airport with his camera.
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