Which Airlines Are The Largest Boeing 787 Users and its variants?

Despite being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, the Boeing 787 is one of the most popular and used long haul aircraft out there. Its size and characteristics make it ideal for so many different uses. So let’s find out which airlines are the largest users of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Which Airlines are The Largest Boeing 787 Users Overall?

Let’s start off by looking at the picture as a whole. Taking into account the total number of Boeing 787s airlines are currently operating.

Remember, there a 3 variants of the aircraft type. The 8, 9 and 10 version. The 787-8 is the smallest of the aircraft family and has the lowest capacity. On the other end of the spectrum is the 787-10 which is also the most uncommon version of the aircraft.

In terms of total number of 787s, including all variants, here’s the top 10 chart of the largest users with the number of units owned:

Airline	Country	Units
ANA	Japan	83
United Airlines	USA	71
American Airlines	USA	59
Qatar Airways	Qatar	47
JAL	Japan	46
Etihad Airways	UAE	43
Air Canada	Canada	39
Hainan Airlines	China	38
British Airways	UK	37
LATAM	Chile	34

If you know the Japanese aviation market you are most likely not surprised by seeing ANA at the top of the Boeing 787 users. Carriers in Japan rely on wide body planes not only for international long haul flights. They also use these aircraft to serve high demand domestic destinations. Just think that Boeing developed 747-400D specifically with the Japanese domestic air travel market in mind. Only one European airline however shows up in the top 10 Dreamliner overall users. British Airways with 37 Boeing 787 is the only one.

Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9 on Approach using the mid sized variant of the hugely popular aircraft. — Boeing 787-9 in JAL Livery on Final Approach

Which Carriers Have The Largest Boeing 787-8 Fleets?

Now that we’ve taken a look at the largest users splitting them down by variant operated. Starting from the smallest of the three Dreamliners produced so far, the 787-8. This plane on average will carry just over 200 passengers. Therefore it is a very versatile option for airlines on long haul routes with not all that much demand. That is one of the uses the largest operator of the variant makes of it.

American Airlines operates seasonal flights to Naples, Italy, from the US east coast with the 787-8 and other similar destinations. The smallest Dreamliner allows to remain profitable even on long routes with smaller demand or airfields. Alternatively it is also used for some higher demand domestic flights in Japan and the US.

Airline	Country	Units
American Airlines	USA	37
ANA	Japan	36
Qatar Airways	Qatar	30
Air India	India	27
JAL	Japan	23
Ethiopian Airlines	Ethiopia	19
Avianca	Colombia	16
British Airways	UK	12
United Airlines	USA	12
Air Europa	Spain	11

Boeing 787-8 Qatar Airways on final Approach this is the smallest variant of the aircraft. — Boeing 787-8 in Qatar Airways livery

Largest Boeing 787-9 Worldwide Users

The mid sized Dreamliner is by far the most popular and used variant of the aircraft. The plane slides perfectly into the space between long haul capable narrow bodies and the larger wide body planes. It is the go to plane for many airlines’ long haul operations.

Airline	Country	Units
ANA	Japan	42
United Airlines	USA	38
Etihad Airways	UAE	33
Air Canada	Canada	31
Hainan Airlines	China	28
LATAM	Chile	24
American Airlines	USA	22
Turkish Airlines	Turkey	22
JAL	Japan	22
British Airways	UK	18

Who Uses The Most Unpopular Dreamliner?

The Boeing 787-10 is the rarest one of the 3 to be spotted in airports around the world. Only 9 carriers use the aircraft type. The aircraft’s capacity is mostly to blame for its lack of success. While the 8 and 9 variants ensure unique load capabilities, the 787-10 is way to close to larger wide body aircraft that make more economical sense to the airlines.