What is the highest number of airliners shown flying together in a single photo? I was re-visiting this question about a timelapse photo of multiple airliners and started wondering about the maximum number of jetliners that could be photographed together while flying.  I have found cases of Airbus aircraft flying in formation for promotional purposes, (see 5 here  and 6 here) and I'm sure Boeing have done the same.  However I was thinking that a busy airport with a lot of aircraft in holding patterns waiting to land might provide an opportunity for more, even though they would be maintaining vertical separation.  Does anyone know of photos like that?
To be a little more precise in what I am asking for, I am looking for a non-edited photo showing the most airliners where the aircraft must be originally built to carry passengers commercially and must be flying (not one of the many reasons photos of planes in &quot;storage&quot; on the ground or stacked up for demolition)
The image found here shows 13 DC-3's in formation which were used as airliners at one point but these are in military livery in the photo.
Here is the kind of photo you describe but only 3 aircraft are in view. Keep in mind aircraft are generally turned onto the final approach path and only a few may be lined up straight off the runway at any given time.
The airbus operation you link, may be the biggest instance of passenger jets flying in tight formation.