Narrowbody aircraft are increasingly used for long-haul flights, with the Boeing 737 being a prominent example. According to OAG data, there will be up to 28 daily transatlantic flights using this type of aircraft during peak summer months. This figure marks the highest number recorded to date. The Boeing 737 will account for one in every 53 passenger flights heading east from the Americas, with this proportion rising if only North America is considered.
Airlines such as Air Canada, Air Saint-Pierre, Icelandair, United Airlines, and WestJet are utilizing the Boeing 737 for these routes. A total of 34 airport pairs are operated by these airlines using this aircraft type. Among them, Air Saint-Pierre stands out due to its unique operations; it plans to wet lease a Boeing 737-700 from ASL Airlines for limited-time summer flights between Paris CDG and domestic transatlantic destinations.
The list of the ten longest transatlantic Boeing 737 flights includes three new entries for this year. WestJet’s new Halifax-Amsterdam route is noteworthy; it begins on May 29 and operates up to six times weekly due to its codeshare agreement with KLM and connectivity through Halifax. This new service has displaced another WestJet route—Halifax-Paris CDG—from the top ten longest routes.
WestJet plans a record number of European routes this summer, with eleven out of seventeen being served by the MAX variant of the Boeing 737. The Halifax-Amsterdam route covers a distance of 2,652 nautical miles (4,912 km) each way. In comparison, the average distance covered by all five airlines’ Boeing 737-operated routes is slightly less at 2,458 nautical miles (4,552 km). The overall average distance for narrowbody aircraft is higher at 2,821 nautical miles (5,224 km), with the A321 (neo/LR/XLR) covering the greatest distances followed by the Boeing 757 and then the Boeing 737.
The list ranks routes based on maximum block times rather than distances:
– Keflavik-Orlando tops in terms of time with an eight-hour twenty-minute block time.
– Keflavik-Seattle leads in distance at 3,147 nautical miles (5,828 km).
Icelandair has been deploying its Boeing 737 MAX to Orlando since 2021. The airline primarily uses the MAX 8 variant but occasionally flies the MAX 9 and recently introduced A321LR once scheduled for December.
Currently (February 20-26), Icelandair has four weekly departures from Keflavik to Orlando; half use the MAX 8 while half use the older model—the Boeing 757. These flights depart Keflavik at 17:15 and arrive in Orlando at local time of approximately 20:35.
Return trips leave Orlando late afternoon on day two after arrival so as not miss crucial connections back home which helps maintain optimal load factors aboard returning aircrafts/cabin crews across Europe upon their early morning arrival following day three flight operations concluded around dawn hours (+1).
