Cheapest and Most Expensive Planes in the world

Cheapest And Most Expensive Commercial Planes in the World That Are Still In Use

Airbus A380 - Wikimedia

Airplanes fascinate us all. They create an urge to travel, to explore, to discover! How easy it seems, the airplane flying and the passengers never ending. But there is a vast amount of unknown info! This article is about the cheapest and the most expensive commercial planes still in use.

On an average, a regular flight takes around 2-3 months for assembly! Long process? There's even a longer sum required for it! According to our research, the cheapest airliner, current status, in use, costs around 1.5 million dollars. What about the most expensive one? That'd cost you around 440 million dollars!

Private Jets could cost you around $50-70 million for a brand new one!

Cheapest commercial plane still in use: Douglas DC 3

Douglas DC 3 - Wikimedia

The cheapest plane in the world is the Douglas DC 3. Its first flight was on 1935. And yes, it's still in use! It was used in World War 2 as a warplane too! DC 3 are legendary for their strength and flexibility. There are other planes who perform a similar job but nothing has ever come close to DC 3. It cost $79,500 at its time, now equivalent to around US$1.5 million dollars.

The DC-3 is not only comfortable and reliable but it has also made air transportation profitable back then. The DC-3 is a twin-engine metal monoplane, developed as a larger and improved version of its previous model, the DC-2. The plane could accommodate 28-32 passengers for daytime flights and 14 passengers for night time sleeper flight. It weighed 30,000 pounds and had a flight range of 1495 miles at a stretch.

The first commercial airline to purchase a DC-3 was the American Airlines. Then came United Airlines, which had been a subsidiary of Boeing till 1934.

Most expensive commercial plane in the world: Airbus A380

Airbus A380 - Wikimedia

The most expensive plane in the world is the Airbus A380. Its first flight was on 2005. It is the biggest commercial airliner with a seating capacity of over 500. And 853 if only economy seats are chosen for a flight. As the first class and business class occupy more space and hence the total number of seat decreases when they are added.

This is a double-decker plane! Yes, double-decker like the London bus! Generally, there are around 315 seats in the lower deck consisting of the economy and first class seats and 140 in the upper deck consisting of economy and business class seats. Why are these classes so expensive? Well, why not? This is the biggest aircraft! Its wearing coefficient rate is approximately 0.8% for 100 flight hours. Every flight wears off with a number of flight hours due to air resistance and other factors, no place is as ideal as we assume for our general school physics, hence the wearing rate is measured by wear coefficient in percentage. It has got Roll's Royce Trent 900 or Engine Alliance GP7270 as its engines

Thats 4 engines in total! These are one of the most efficient engines in airtime history. It can carry a payload of 84 tonnes. 

Emirates is the primary customer of A380 with Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa in second and third place respectively. Though Singapore Airlines was the first one to include A380 in their fleet, Emirates now has the most number of A380s.

Airbus A380 Plus - Wikimedia

In the latest Air Show, i.e., Paris Air Show 2017, A new variant of A380 was launched, named as A380plus. It is estimated to have a better aerodynamic structure and efficiency. The Airbus A380 has the least wear coefficient after the Airbus A350 (which was launched after the A380. Don't go on numbers) with wear coefficient 0.6% per 100 flight hours. 

It has a flight range of 15,200 km at a stretch. It could take you from Delhi to Los Angeles over the Pacific without any stops and still have 2500 km to spare!

These specs add up to the price and hence this is the costliest flight as of now.

Thanks for reading!

Also check: Why are there ashtrays installed on the plane even when smoking is not allowed?