Boeing 737-800

The 737-800 is the stretched version of the 737-700 within the third-generation Next Generation (NG) family. Boeing launched the NG series in late 1993 to answer the Airbus A320 family, which had won over previously loyal 737 customers such as Lufthansa and United Airlines; the -800 was launched on September 5, 1994. Like the rest of the series it combined a redesigned wing with a wider span and larger area, greater fuel capacity and range, higher maximum weights, CFM56-7 engines and a glass cockpit, while retaining crew commonality with earlier 737s.

The prototype rolled out on June 30, 1997, and first flew on July 31, 1997, piloted by Jim McRoberts and Mike Hewett. The NG flight test programme used ten aircraft, three of them -800s. Launch customer Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUIfly) received the first one in April 1998. The aircraft seats 162 passengers in a two-class layout or 189 in a single-class layout.

The -800 directly replaced the 737-400 and, for many US airlines, the ageing 727-200 trijets. After Boeing's merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997 it also filled the gap left by the decision to discontinue the MD-80 and MD-90. It burns 850 US gallons (3,200 L) of fuel per hour, about 80% of the fuel used by an MD-80 on a comparable flight while carrying more passengers. Its direct rival was the Airbus A320.

The model served as the vehicle for many of the series' improvements. The short-field design package, an option on the -800, raised payloads on runways under 5,000 feet (1,500 m). Messier-Bugatti-Dowty carbon brakes arrived in July 2008, giving a -800 a 0.5% reduction in fuel burn. The first aircraft with the improved CFM56-7BE engines was a -800, line number 3700, registered B-5596 and delivered to China Southern Airlines; the first with the new LED light package was another -800, line number 5555, registered EI-FHK, for Norwegian Air Shuttle. Southwest Airlines flew the first -800 with Split Scimitar winglets on April 14, 2014, and the Space Bins of the Boeing Sky Interior allow a -800 to hold 174 carry-on bags. In 2011 a United Airlines -800 flying from Houston to Chicago operated the first US commercial flight powered by a blend of algae-derived biofuel.

The -800 was by far the best-selling NG variant. As of May 2019 Boeing had delivered 4,979 737-800s, plus 116 737-800As and 21 737-800 BBJ2s, and as of September 2026 orders totalled 5,238: 4,991 commercial, 224 military and 23 corporate. It is the most widely used narrow-body aircraft; Ryanair, among its largest operators, flies over 400 on routes across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Its airframe also underpins the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and the BBJ2 business jet.

Boeing stopped assembling passenger 737NGs in 2019. The last aircraft assembled was a 737-800 registered PH-BCL for KLM in December 2019, and the last two deliveries went to China Eastern Airlines on January 5, 2020. In early 2017 a new 737-800 was valued at $48.3 million.

The -800's life continues in cargo. In February 2016 Boeing launched a passenger-to-freighter conversion programme, the 737-800BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter), with orders for 55 conversions; the first converted aircraft was delivered to West Atlantic in April 2018. At the 2018 Farnborough Airshow GECAS raised its commitment to 50 aircraft, and total orders and commitments reached 80 aircraft for over half a dozen customers. Its successor in the family is the 737 MAX 8.