How to Identify Boeing 737 vs Airbus A320 (with variants!)

Note: This article is a part of AIKA Birdspot Series, whose aim is to help you identify any commercial aircraft in under 5 seconds. To access the series, click here.

The Boeing 737 family and the Airbus A320 family are two of the best selling airplane types this world has ever seen. According to this article, out of the estimated 23,600 aircraft in service (in 2016, at the time the article was written), around 13,000 belong to these two families. Thus, if you are sitting on any airport in the world, you are extremely likely to catch a glimpse of these aircraft. And thus comes the need to identify these and tell them apart!

A detailed guide to Identifying B737 v A320

You can use any of these criteria to differentiate a Boeing 737 from a Airbus A320:

1. Look at the cockpit windows

WANBV – Cockpit Windows of Airbus are Notched and Boeing are V-shaped

2. Look at the nose

NARBP – Nose of Airbus are Round and Boeing are Pointed

3. Look at the Vertical Stabiliser

SASBG – Vertical Stabiliser of Airbus is Steep and Boeing is Gradual

4. Look at the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)

AASBR – APU of Airbus is Sawed-off and Boeing is round

5. Look at the Engines

EARBF – Engines of Airbus are Round and Boeing are Flattened

To sum it up:

A320 features — **Airbus A320**
Credits: Per aspera ad Astra

Boeing 737 features — **Boeing 737**
Credits: Brorsson

A closer look at the engines for better understanding:

A320 engine — **Airbus A320 Engine – Almost circular**
Credits: Darren Koch

**Boeing 737 Engine** – **Flattened at the bottom**
Credits: 737engine.jpg

Once you have identified whether it is a Boeing or an Airbus comes the more difficult part – identifying the variant.

Identifying the variants

Please note that since the families are large, we will attempt to list only the important variants.

Boeing 737 Family

737-200

One feature: Torpedo-like engines: Small but long

737-300

Two features:

Single overwing exit (-100 and -200 too have a single overwing exit. However, -300 is the only ‘modern’ looking 737 having a single exit)
No winglets (you may see after-market winglets in -300s, but rarely)