Airbus A220 vs Embraer E-Jet: how to tell them apart

The Airbus A220 and the Embraer E-Jet are easy to confuse. Both are low-wing twinjets with one engine slung under each wing [3] [4], and the biggest of each overlap in size: up to 160 seats in the A220-300 and up to 146 in the E195-E2 [5].

The A220 did not start life as an Airbus. It was designed and launched as the Bombardier CSeries, and took the Airbus name in July 2018 [15].

Look at the wingtips first

The wingtips do most of the work. The A220 has winglets that stick out from the wing at about 45 degrees [1] [4]. The newer Embraers, the E2s, have no winglets at all, which is easy to spot [2]. So a jet of this size with plain, bare wingtips is an E2.

The first-generation E-Jets are harder. The E170's winglets stand upright, at 90 degrees to the wing, but the E175's are at 45 degrees [2], just like the A220's. If you see 45 degree winglets, keep looking.

Then the cockpit and the tail

The A220 has four cockpit windows, where the A320 and other Airbus airliners have six [1]. Its tail cone is squarer than the round cone on the other Airbus narrow-bodies [1]. Neither is a clean test against an Embraer in our sources, but together with the wingtips they build a picture.

Count the exits

On an Embraer the overwing exits sort the family out. The E170 and E175 have none, and the E190 and E195 have one over each wing [3]. The E195-E2 has two on each side, and the E190-E2 one [2]. To tell an E190 from an E195, count the windows between the front door and the overwing exit: 11 on the E190, 12 on the E195 [2].

Inside, it is obvious

Once you are on board, the seat map settles it. The A220 has two seats on one side of the aisle and three on the other, while the E195-E2 has two on each side [5].

Engines

The A220 flies on Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines [5], and the E2 on the Pratt & Whitney PW1900G [7]. The first-generation E-Jets use GE's CF34 [6]. None of that is easy to read from a garden, so this is one for the tracker.

Which one will you see over Ireland?

Both turn up. We have not found a published count that says which is more common here, so here is who flies each one to Ireland.

The A220 to look for belongs to airBaltic, which has flown nothing but the A220-300 since May 2020 and took its 51st in December 2025 [8]. It sells flights between Dublin and Riga [9]. Swiss has flown its A220-300 between Zurich and Dublin too [10].

E-Jets come from London and Amsterdam. British Airways lists 20 E190s in the fleet of BA CityFlyer [11], and one flew the Dublin to London City route in February 2023 [12]. KLM Cityhopper flew E190s between Amsterdam and Dublin in 2023 [13], and it announced its 25th E195-E2 on 1 October 2025 [14].

If the small aircraft you are looking at has propellers and a wing on top, it is neither: it is probably an ATR 72.

In photographs

Look closer at the shapes, details and liveries. Every photograph links to its original and credits its creator.