The internal force would vary largely with different load ratio for steel arches under combined full-span with half-span loads. However, most relevant formulas on in-plane stability capacity of steel arches were obtained by studying the stability under a single load. Thus, it lacks full considerations of the applicability of bearing capacity formulas under a combined full-span load with half-span load. To overcome this shortcoming, the two-hinged parabolic steel arch was used to compare the results of bearing capacity of arches with different load ratios, rise-span ratios and sections calculated by several methods, The method proposed in the current Chinese design specification of steel arch structure and the finite element method based on the perfect arch and the consistent imperfect arch were included. The results showed that the method in the specification for designing a steel arch would be conservative with a large ratio of the full-span load to the total loads while unsafe with a large ratio of the half-span load to the total loads.