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Aviation glossary

MZFW

Maximum Zero Fuel Weight · Also: maximum zero fuel weight, MZFM

Weights and performance

Maximum permitted weight of an aircraft with all its payload, crew and passengers on board, excluding the usable fuel in its tanks.

What it is

Limiting the weight without fuel may seem odd, but there is a structural reason. On most airliners the fuel is carried in the wings, and its weight pulls them down, partly offsetting the lift that bends them upwards in flight. Load in the fuselage, by contrast, hangs entirely from the wing root. The MZFW caps what can be loaded into the fuselage so that this joint is not overstressed.

Subtracting the operating empty weight (OEW) from the MZFW gives the maximum payload. If the aircraft is loaded right up to its MZFW, the fuel it can add is limited to the gap between that figure and the MTOW, which reduces range; this is the trade-off shown in a payload-range diagram.

On an Airbus A320neo the MZFW ranges from about 63 to 65 tonnes, depending on the weight variant.

On Vuelopedia

Airbus A320

Related terms

MTOWMaximum weight at which an aircraft is certified to begin its take-off, including structure, crew, passengers, cargo and fuel. OEWWeight of an aircraft ready for service, with crew, equipment and the necessary fluids, but without passengers, cargo or usable fuel. PayloadWeight of everything that earns revenue on a flight, namely passengers and their baggage, cargo and mail, excluding the aircraft, crew and fuel. Payload-range diagramChart showing how much payload an aircraft can carry over each distance, revealing the trade-off between payload and fuel within the maximum take-off weight. MLWMaximum weight at which an aircraft is certified to land, determined mainly by the strength of the landing gear and the airframe.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). MZFW. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw

MLA

“MZFW.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “MZFW.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) MZFW. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_mzfw,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{MZFW}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/mzfw |title=MZFW |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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