The Boeing 737-800's Longest Routes: Over 3,000 Miles

The 737-800 is the most popular variant of Boeing‘s 737 family of narrowbody twinjets, with almost 5,000 examples of the type having been delivered to airlines all around the world over the years. The versatile design suits operators of all shapes and sizes, from legacy carriers to budget airlines, and it is deployed in every corner of the globe on routes that range considerably in terms of distance and time.

While the Boeing 737-800 is not known for being a long-range aircraft, with the new 737 MAX tending to be the series that sees the family’s longest flights, it is still being used on several routes that are longer than 3,000 miles this October. Let’s take a look and see which airlines operate these flights.

Batik Air Malaysia Operates The World’s Longest Flights With The Boeing 737-800

According to current scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Batik Air Malaysia is the only carrier with flights longer than 3,250 miles that are using the Boeing 737-800 this month. All in all, three routes from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) fall into this category, with their destinations being Dubai (DXB), Tashkent (TAS), and Tokyo (NRT). The latter of these only has one rotation.

Tashkent, which is 3,329 miles (5,357.5 km) from Kuala Lumpur compared to Tokyo’s 3,357 miles (5,402.6 km), will be served six times by Batik’s 737-800s this month. Dubai is the longest route and has the top frequency, with 18 outbound and 17 inbound flights, and a distance of 3,449 miles (5,550.6 km). According to Tourism Malaysia, Batik’s Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy said at the time of this route’s launch that:

“We are excited to provide our passengers with a seamless and enjoyable travel experience. (…) The new Dubai-Kuala Lumpur route expands Batik Air’s reach, seamlessly connecting ASEAN and Asia-Pacific markets with the Middle East.”

Russian Airlines Are Major Long-Distance Boeing 737-800 Operators

Aside from Batik Air Malaysia, there are also three Russian airlines that are operating flights longer than 3,000 miles with the Boeing 737-800 this month. Aeroflot, the country’s flag carrier, is one such airline, and it deploys the type six times a week on the 3,038-mile (4,889.2 km) domestic route from Moscow (SVO) to Yakutsk (YKS). According to Cirium, these jets have 20 business and 138 economy seats.

Elsewhere in Russia, Yakutia Airlines has two routes longer than 3,000 miles that it is operating with the Boeing 737-800 this month. The longer of the pair also connects Moscow with Yakutsk, albeit from Vnukovo Airport (VKO) as opposed to Sheremetyevo in the case of Aeroflot. Separately, the carrier also flies the Boeing 737-800 on the 3,019-mile (4,858.6 km) route from St Petersburg (LED) to Yakutsk.

Green-liveried S7 Airlines is one of Russia’s most distinctive carriers, and it also stands out among the country’s longest Boeing 737-800 routes as one of these is international, rather than domestic. Indeed, as well as Moscow (DME) to Yakutsk, S7 flies the type on the 3,011-mile (4,845.7 km) route from Novosibirsk (OVB) to Bangkok (BKK) and the 3,062-mile (4,928.8 km) corridor from Irkutsk (IKT) to Phuket (HKT).

The Best Of The Rest

Away from Russia and Malaysia, Canadian carrier WestJet is operating two round trips from Calgary (YYC) to Guanacaste (LIR) in Costa Rica with its Boeing 737-800s this month. These flights are 3,223 miles (5,186.9 km) long, with the outbound sectors operating overnight as ‘red-eye’ flights.

Oman Air has the highest number of scheduled 737-800 flights in excess of 3,000 miles this October, with Cirium’s data showing that it has penciled in 94 sectors that fall under this category. These are spread across just two routes from Muscat (MCT), with their destinations being Kuala Lumpur and Munich (MUC). The former is longer, at 3,237 miles (5,209.5 km), compared to 3,049 miles (4,906.9 km) for the latter.

This leaves three more airlines, with the first being TUIfly. This leisure carrier flies the 737-800 on the 3,072-mile (4,943.9 km) route from Hanover (HAJ) to Boa Vista (BVC) in Cape Verde, while Transavia uses the type from Amsterdam (AMS) to Dubai (3,215 miles / 5,174 km). Last but not least, Boliviana de Aviación has scheduled a single 737-800 rotation between Miami and Viru Viru (3,201 miles / 5,151.5 km).