What is a Tail Number?

How Private Planes are Registered and Identified

Whether it’s commercial or private, every plane is assigned a registration number, the same way license plates are given to cars. They’re referred to as tail numbers, and are typically displayed on the tail of the aircraft (hence the name), or in the case of many private jets, on the engine’s cowling.

Gulfstream G650 tail number

Gulfstream’s G650 is assigned the N650GA vanity tail number (USA; model #; Gulfstream Aviation)

Depending on which country an airplane is registered in will dictate the first letter of the tail number, followed by a unique set of up to 5 alphanumeric symbols (ABC/123).

For example, the United States owns the most common registrations, “N” (NC, NL, NR, NS, NX); planes based in the UK begin with the letter “G”; and aircraft in Germany start their tail numbers with “D”.

Tail numbers on commercial airlines are pretty simple.

However, when it comes to private jet registration and their eccentric owners, they can get a little more interesting, and many celebrities and executives show off their private plane by registering a ‘vanity tail number’:

Nike’s corporate jet carries the registration “N1KE”; Michael “Air” Jordan knows how to fly, and his tail number N236MJ” represents his jersey number (23), championship rings (6), and initials (MJ); “G-GALX” belongs to the Dassault Falcon 900 owned by Richard Branson, the entrepreneurial owner of Virgin Galactic, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Atlantic.

What are Tail Numbers used for?

Outside of registration, you can use tail numbers from a private plane to track a private flight. Here at Air Charter Advisors, we use the tail number to follow all of our flights and respond to any sudden changes in operations, weather, ATC, or other factors. This allows us to stay on top of your private flight and ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Have any questions regarding private plane tail numbers? Contact us via email or give us a call!