Airbus A320 vs Boeing 737: how to tell them apart

Dublin Airport's two biggest airlines fly two different twin-engined, single-aisle jets [8] [9] [12]. One is the Airbus A320 family, the other the Boeing 737. From a garden they can look like the same shape, but a handful of details give each one away, and once you know them you will start calling them without thinking.

Start with the nose

The quickest tell in a photo is the cockpit. The Airbus nose is rounder, and the rearmost side window of its cockpit has a clipped top corner, as if someone had snipped it off [1]. The 737's side windows are more angular, with bottom edges that slope [1]. If you can see the windows, this settles it.

Then the engines

Look at the engine intakes head on or from slightly below. An A320's are round [1]. A 737's are flattened along the bottom so the engine clears the runway, a shape spotters call the hamster pouch [1] [4].

Watch the wheels

As the aircraft climbs away and the gear comes up, an Airbus tucks its wheels away out of sight [1]. On a 737 the main wheels stay visible from below [1].

Wingtips can fool you

Older A320s end in small wingtip fences, and later ones carry tall upturned Sharklets [2] [5]. The 737-800 has either a blended winglet, a single smooth upward sweep, or a split scimitar with a point at the top and another at the bottom [3]. The trap is a Sharklet seen in silhouette: it looks very like a 737's blended winglet [5]. Use the wingtips to tell members of one family apart, not to tell Airbus from Boeing.

Listen on the ground

If you are near the taxiway, the Airbus sometimes gives itself away by ear. A320 family aircraft make a loud, repetitive noise often likened to a barking dog [6] [7]. It comes from the power transfer unit, a pump that keeps hydraulic pressure up, and you hear it while taxiing with one engine shut down or around engine start [6]. It is normal, not a fault [7].

Which one will you see over Ireland?

Ryanair and Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport's two biggest customers [9], sit on opposite sides of this comparison. As of 2 September 2026, Ryanair's group fleet was 411 Next Generation 737s and 210 737-8200s, alongside only 26 Airbus A320s [8], and those A320s belong to Lauda Europe, the one A320 operator in the group [13]. Aer Lingus flies Airbus: by May 2026 it had 14 A321neos alone [12], on top of its A320s and A330s.

So the odds lean towards the 737, simply because Ryanair flies so many of them. But an A320 overhead is far from rare, and a Ryanair livery is not proof of a 737: check the nose.

Two relatives complicate things. The Boeing 737 MAX looks like a 737-800 with bigger engines; the 737 MAX vs 737-800 guide covers that one. The A320neo is an A320 with much larger engines and Sharklets on every aircraft [2].

The difference you cannot see

The biggest difference is on the flight deck. Airbus describes the A320 as the first commercial aircraft with full digital fly-by-wire, and each pilot flies it with a sidestick instead of a traditional yoke [14]. None of that shows from the ground, which is why the nose, the engines and the wheels do the work.

In photographs

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

Drawings and original documents

Existing published drawings are credited below. These are reference illustrations, not manufacturing blueprints.

• A320 airport and maintenance planning drawings, July 2026

  Airbus’s own technical reference, including aircraft dimensions, cabin cross-sections, door positions, ground clearances and servicing diagrams. These are manufacturer planning drawings.

• A320 Family facts and programme timeline, June 2026

  Airbus’s illustrated family backgrounder records the first deliveries of the A320, A321, A319 and A318, alongside dimensions for both engine generations.

• 737 Next Generation airport planning drawings, October 2025

  Boeing’s dimensioned plans cover the 737-600 through 737-900, including the -800’s cabin, doors, ground clearances and turning geometry.

• The 737-800’s first flight, 31 July 1997

  Read Boeing’s original launch-era report, with its route, test crew, fleet position and the planned Next Generation test programme.