How to Read an Aircraft Registration (Tail Number)

An aircraft registration, often called a tail number, identifies an individual civil aircraft. Read the complete mark, including its prefix: it is different from the flight number shown on a departure board.

If you want to identify the aircraft in your photo, start with FlightCatcherPro on your iPhone. Upload the photo or use the camera, review the suggestion and save your catch. A readable registration helps you check that you have the right aircraft.

Identify an aircraft with FlightCatcherPro →

Where to find the registration

Look along the rear fuselage or on the tail. The full mark is not necessarily repeated in both places. Small codes on a nose-gear door may be abbreviated, so confirm them against the full marking.

In this page’s photograph, F-GUGM is painted on the rear fuselage. Read every character before recording it.

The CAA’s illustrated marking guide shows UK marking positions and formats.

What the prefix tells you

The prefix indicates the country of registration, not necessarily the airline’s home country. It does not identify the aircraft model.

For a UK civil aircraft, G- is followed by four letters. A US registration starts with N, followed by up to five characters. The FAA excludes the letters I and O to avoid confusion with 1 and 0; see its N-number format guide.

Keep the full registration with the date of your sighting. Registrations can change, so an old photo and a current record may differ.

Check unclear characters, then keep your catch

Zoom into your original photo. If a character is blurred or hidden, leave it unconfirmed rather than filling it in from a guess.

For a readable mark, our aircraft registration lookup guide points you to official registers. If the mark is missing, use the photo identification guide instead.