In this article we’ll explore the largest airplanes ever built.

Nothing gets a pilot dreaming like a really big airplane. Jumbos, wide-bodies, Queens of the Sky, and super-heavies — whatever they’re called, we love big planes, and we cannot lie.

Here are some of the biggest planes to ever grace the skies. Some are one-off designs, while others are regularly spotted at airports near you. But they all have one thing in common — they’re large.

What Are the Largest Airplanes in the World?

What counts as a large airplane? 

The FAA provides a tidy definition of a “large aircraft:” It weighs more than 12,500 pounds. 

But in the modern world, that’s not a very big airplane — it’s just a convenient line drawn in the rules and regulations. 

For example, a Beechcraft King Air 350 weighs more than 12,500 pounds, but not many people would consider it a “large airplane.”

If you’re curious about the largest airplanes in the world, what you want to know about are the really big ones. 

The ones that have to stick to the longest runways, the ones that need special authorization to fly, and the ones that are so big they make an impression.

Here are ten of the largest aircraft to grace the skies. Each of these planes gets a gold medal for something, from the biggest payload to the longest wingspan.

Antonov An-225 Mriya

🥇  Biggest Payload: 420,000 pounds

🥇 Highest Max Takeoff Weight: 1,410,958 pounds

🥇 World’s Longest Airplane: 275 feet, 7 inches

The Soviet Union developed and built the An-225 in the 1980s as a large military cargo aircraft. 

One program goal was to build an aircraft to haul the Soviet Buran space plane above its wing. 

Only one An-225 was ever completed, with a second fuselage only partially built. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and its space program, Antonov Airlines was formed to put the aircraft into commercial use. 

During its operational history, the An-225 set 240 world records, including carrying the single heaviest cargo item by air — an enormous power plant gas generator weighing 418,830 pounds. 

Unfortunately, the An-225 is now history. It was completely destroyed during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Scaled Composites Model 351 Stratolaunch Roc

🥇 Longest Wingspan: 385 feet

🥇 Possible External Payload: up to 550,000 pounds

The Scaled Composites Stratolaunch was designed to be a lifting aircraft, or “mothership,” for various other vehicles. 

There’s only one, and it’s the biggest all-composite aircraft ever built. First flown in 2017, it was built and operated from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. 

The aircraft has a distinctive double fuselage design, six turbofan engines, and an impressive 28 wheels for landing gear. 

The Stratolaunch’s original mission was to serve as the launch platform for air-to-space rockets for Paul Allen’s company, Stratolaunch Systems. After Allen died in 2018, the aircraft and company changed hands.

 It’s now being used as a launch platform for experimental hypersonic aircraft.

The Stratolaunch is similar in appearance to the company’s White Knight Two, a smaller aircraft used by Virgin Galactic.

Airbus A380-800

🥇 Most Passengers: Up to 853, but typically configured for 575

🥇 Airliner with Highest Max Takeoff Weight: 1,267,658 pounds

The Airbus A380 double-decker airliner entered service in 2007 and flew its first route for Singapore Airlines. 

The plane is the largest passenger aircraft ever built, with two full passenger decks. If the plane were specced with single-class economy seating, it could hold 853 passengers. 

Unlike its famous competitor, the A380 never found a market as an air freighter like the 747 did. The proposed freight version, the A380F, was never produced.

Airbus stopped making the A380 in 2021 due to waning demand for these super-heavy aircraft. In total, 251 aircraft were sold. Several airlines, including Emirates, Qatar, Qantas, Korean, and British Airways, still operate the model.

Hughes H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose”

🥇 Tallest Airplane in the World: 79 feet, 4 inches

🥇 Largest Flying Boat (Seaplane) Ever Built

If you were alive in the 1940s, you would know all about Howard Hughes and his “Spruce Goose.” The story of the famous aviator and the plane he was building was a news sensation.

The H-4 Hercules was designed to be a troop transport, bigger than anything ever attempted. 

Since airports were not large enough, the Hercules was a flying boat. To keep it light enough, it was built out of the lightest weight material available: wood.

Many things about the project were revolutionary, and it went over budget and past deadline — so much so that it was dubbed the “Spruce Goose” and labeled a boondoggle by the media. 

Many wondered if the eight-engined contraption could ever fly. It didn’t help that the war was over before the plane was completed.

The plane’s only flight was a bit of a stunt. 

During what was supposed to be a taxi test with Hughes at the controls, the fearless aviator lifted the plane above Los Angeles Harbor in front of the assembled news cameras. 

The plane climbed to 70 feet and flew for 26 seconds before touching down. Today, you can see the Spruce Goose, the centerpiece of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. 

Until the A380 flew in 2006, the Spruce Goose had the longest wingspan of any aircraft in history.

Boeing 747-8F

🥇 Largest Commercial Air Freighter 

(Max gross weight, 990,000 pounds)

During its years of service, the Boeing 747 was known as the “Queen of the Skies.” 

While the Airbus A380 surpassed the Boeing 747 as the largest passenger plane, the B747 is still the largest production commercial air freighter.

The 747 was the world’s first wide-bodied aircraft, designed in the late 1960s for medium—and long-haul routes. Pan Am was the initial customer, and they wanted a plane more than twice as large as the 707 to lower the cost per seat. 

Pan Am flew the first 747 route in 1970. 

Over the next 40-plus years, Boeing updated and modified the 747 to get the newest, largest variants, the 747-8I and 747-8F. Most famously, the current Air Force One is a heavily modified variant of the B747 with the Air Force designation VC-25.

From the beginning, Boeing knew the 747 would be in demand as an air freighter. The nose of the aircraft lifts to allow large objects into the hold, as is the case with military aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy.

There are also four Boeing Dreamlifters, modified B747-400s used by Boeing to transport assembled pieces of the 787 Dreamliner for final assembly at their Everett, Washington plant.

Current 747 operators include Atlas Air, UPS, Lufthansa, Korean, and Asiana Airlines. Unfortunately, many airlines are retiring their 747s as they age. In 2023, Boeing shut down 747 production after building 1,573 aircraft.

North American XB-70 Valkyrie

🥇 Largest Supersonic Aircraft 

(Max gross weight, 534,700 pounds)

The B-70 program was conceived at the height of the Cold War. It was to be a nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic bomber. 

It first flew in 1964. 

With six engines and a delta-wing profile similar to the commercial Concorde, the Valkyrie could fly at 70,000 feet and more than Mach 3. 

But the Valkyrie’s career was short-lived. 

Advances in Soviet air defenses and new surface-to-air missiles meant the plane might not be as invincible as hoped. 

Only two were ever built, and one was lost in a mid-air collision in 1966. After a short stint as an aerodynamics research platform for NASA, the remaining plane was retired in 1969. 

It’s on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy

🥇 Largest US Military Aircraft 

(Max gross weight, 840,000 pounds)

The C-5 is a quad-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft operated by the US Air Force. They were built from 1968 to 1989, and 52 are still in service.

The nose of the C-5 lifts to give full access to the cargo deck. It’s designed to carry 36 463L Master Pallets, giving it a payload of approximately 281,000 pounds.

Antonov An-124 Ruslan

🥇 Largest Commercial/Military Cargo Plane In Service 

(Max gross weight, 886,256 pounds)

The An-124 is the small sister of the now-destroyed An-225. 

Similar in appearance — though noticeably smaller and with only four engines — the An-124 has seen a successful career working for the Russian armed forces and commercial operators worldwide. 

The total payload is about 330,693 pounds, giving it a slight advantage in size over the US C-5 Galaxy. 

About 20 planes are in service with Ukraine-based Antonov Airlines and Russian-based Volga-Dnepr. 

The Russian Aerospace Forces also operate 12 of them. Commercial planes have been used to haul specialized cargo, including a diesel railroad locomotive, a rescue submersible, huge cement pumps after the Fukushima nuclear accident, clean-up skimmer boats after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and tons of humanitarian aid in the wake of natural disasters.

Boeing 777-300ER

🥇 Largest Twin Engine Airplane

(Max gross weight, 775,000 pounds)

Most of the aircraft on this list are big enough — or old enough — to require four engines. Much of this is due to old engine technologies that were less reliable and less powerful than today. 

However, changes in the regulations known as ETOPS have allowed airlines to begin operating twin jets on long-haul routes typically reserved for tri- and quad-jets.

Several large twin jets dominate the skies, including the sleek new A350 and B787. 

However, neither modern composite aircraft is as large as Boeing’s original big twin, the 777. The 777 first flew in 1994. About 1,735 have been delivered, including various freight and passenger variants. 

The current model is the 777X, which includes the 777-8 and 777-9 versions. As of this writing Boeing has not yet delivered any of these new planes.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

🥇 Largest Aircraft in Service During WWII 

(Max gross weight, 120,000 pounds)

History buffs like to argue about the biggest aircraft during World War II. 

Like the Spruce Goose above, many big aircraft were prototyped or designed during the war, but few of these engineering marvels saw action. 

The B-29, however, was widely used by the Allies and famously used against Japan in the Pacific Theater. 

The B-29 was a four-engine heavy bomber designed to improve upon the widely successful twin-engine B-17 Flying Fortress. The plane’s state-of-the-art technologies included tricycle landing gear and a pressurized cabin. Nearly 4,000 B-29s were built between 1943 and 1946.

The B-29 program also became the lead design for Boeing to build from after the war ended. From the same basic design, the company made the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser — the world’s first pressurized airliner.

Two B-29 Superfortresses still fly today, appearing at airshows around the world.  

Bonus Aircraft: Mil V-12

🥇 Largest Rotorcraft in the World

(Max takeoff weight, 321,485 pounds)

The V-12 was a twin-rotor, four-engine, heavy-lift helicopter designed by the Russian company Mil in the 1960s. 

Only two prototypes were built. 

The project was designed to transport very large cargo into remote areas, such as moving intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to remote sites. The craft’s transverse-tandem rotors each had a diameter of 114 feet.

Even though the V-12 program never took off, quite a few very big military helicopters operate worldwide, like the Chinook and “Jolly Green Giant.” 

However, the biggest operational helicopter, in terms of takeoff weight, is the Russian-built Mil Mi-26. 

It can hold 90 troops or 60 stretchers, is 131 feet long, and is almost 27 feet tall. 

To put it into perspective, a Mi-26 lifts the equivalent of almost 34 fully loaded Cessna 172s!