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Aviation glossary

Regional aircraft

Also: regional jet, regional airliner, RJ

The aircraft

Smaller passenger aircraft, typically with about 30 to 100 seats, designed for short routes and airports with modest traffic.

What it is

Regional aircraft link small and medium-sized cities with each other or with major hubs, often on flights of under two hours. There are two broad groups: turboprops such as the ATR 72 and Dash 8, which are very efficient on short sectors, and regional jets such as Bombardier's CRJ family and Embraer's ERJ 145 and E-Jets, which are faster and suit somewhat longer routes.

In the United States, many of these flights are operated by regional airlines under a major carrier's brand through capacity purchase agreements. The mainline pilots' contracts, known as scope clauses, limit the seat count and weight of aircraft those partners may fly, which goes a long way to explaining the success of the Embraer E175 in that market.

On Vuelopedia

ATR 42 / 72 Bombardier CRJ Embraer E170 / E175

Related terms

Regional airlineAirline flying short, thinner routes with regional aircraft, often linking smaller cities to the hubs of the major carriers. TurbopropGas turbine engine that drives a propeller through a reduction gearbox, with the propeller rather than the exhaust producing almost all the thrust. HubAirport where an airline concentrates its flights and times its schedule so that passengers and cargo from many cities can connect with one another. Narrow-bodyAirliner with a single cabin aisle and typically four to six seats per row; the most common type on short and medium-haul routes. Passenger capacityNumber of passengers an aircraft can carry, which varies with the cabin layout chosen by the airline and is capped by a certified maximum.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Regional aircraft. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-aircraft

MLA

“Regional aircraft.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-aircraft. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Regional aircraft.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-aircraft.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Regional aircraft. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/regional-aircraft (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

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

Wikipedia

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

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