RA-87260

The Plane You’re Flying on is 47 Years Old

Airbus announced that it would cease production of the A380 a few years ago with the final plane rolling off the production line this year.

248 A380’s have been delivered since it entered production in 2003, the first order being delivered in October 2007, fourteen years ago.

Boeing also recently announced the end of production of its 747 in 2022… though its life stretches back an impressive 50 years with over 1500 delivered!

50 years!

Which got me thinking; what are the oldest planes still flying commercially? Are there any 50 year old 747’s still in service?

Methodology

I used airfleets.net production list search for each major aircraft type still flying. airfleets.net reports the status of the plane, including the last flight recorded, however, it seems these dates are manually submitted by users (some are very old). Therefore, I verified dates with flightradar24.com.

I consider planes still in service if they made a flight in 2020 — my assumption being many have been temporarily taken out of service due to the reduction in air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only planes that had first flights before 1990 are considered.

I do not consider military or non-commercial passenger operators (e.g. military or shipping).

Results

Difference between first flight ever and oldest commercial model in operation first flew

Oldest commercial plane still in operation by model vs. first flight (April 2021)

Download chart.

Manufacturer/model First commercial flight of model Oldest plane still in operation first flew Years between first and oldest
Boeing 737 1967-05-13 1974-05-09 6
Boeing 747 1969-05-10 1984-02-28 14
Airbus A300 1972-10-28 1986-12-31 14
Boeing 767 1981-11-04 1982-09-25 0
Airbus A310 1982-04-03 1989-03-08 6
Boeing 757 1982-10-25 1988-02-19 5
Embraer 120 Brasilia 1983-07-27 1986-03-21 2
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 1983-10-26 1985-09-11 1
Airbus A320 1987-02-22 1989-04-25 2

Download full table.

Older 747’s and A300’s seems to leave service quickly, relatively speaking — the oldest planes still flying are 14 years older than the first models that flew.

Conversely, the 737 has remarkable longevity with some of the oldest versions still in operation delivered only 6 years longer than the first ever commercial flight of the model (and first delivered before the 747 and A300).

Age of oldest commercial model still flying

Age of oldest commercial plane still in operation by model

Download chart.

Manufacturer/model Oldest plane still in operation first flew Todays date Age (years)
Airbus A310 1989-03-08 2021-05-31 32
Airbus A320 1989-04-25 2021-05-31 32
Boeing 757 1988-02-19 2021-05-31 33
Airbus A300 1986-12-31 2021-05-31 34
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 1985-09-11 2021-05-31 35
Embraer 120 Brasilia 1986-03-21 2021-05-31 35
Boeing 747 1984-02-28 2021-05-31 37
Boeing 767 1982-09-25 2021-05-31 38
Boeing 737 1974-05-09 2021-05-31 47

Download full table.

C-GNLK, a 737 currently operated by Nolinor Aviation has been flying for over 47 years — almost 10 years longer than any other model.

By aircraft type

Boeing 737
  • First commercial flight of type:
    • Registration: N701PJ
    • First flight: 1967-05-13
    • Status: Scrapped
    • AirFleets info
  • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Boeing 747
  • First commercial flight of type:
    • Registration: N474EV
    • First flight: 1969-05-10
    • Status: Scrapped
    • AirFleets info
  • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Boeing 757
  • First commercial flight of type:
    • Registration: G-BIKA
    • First flight: 1982-10-25
    • Status: Scrapped
    • AirFleets info
  • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Boeing 767
  • First commercial flight of type:
      • Registration: N601UA
      • First flight: 1981-11-04
      • Status: Scrapped
      • AirFleets info
    • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Airbus A300
  • First commercial flight of type:
      • Registration: F-OCAZ
      • First flight: 1972-10-28
      • Status: Scrapped
      • AirFleets info
    • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Airbus A310
  • First commercial flight of type:
      • Registration: N450FE
      • First flight: 1982-04-03
      • Status: Stored
      • AirFleets info
    • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Airbus A320
  • First commercial flight of type:
      • Registration: F-WWBA
      • First flight: 1987-02-22
      • Status: Stored
      • AirFleets info
    • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
De Havilland Canada Dash 8
  • First commercial flight of type:
      • Registration: C-GGMP
      • First flight: 1983-10-26
      • Status: Stored
      • AirFleets info
    • Oldest plane still in commercial service:
Embraer 120 Brasilia
  • First commercial flight of type:
      • Registration: PT-ZBA
      • First flight: 1983-07-27
      • Status: Stored
      • AirFleets info
    • Oldest plane still in commercial service:

Improvements

The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and MD-11 didn’t quite make this list, but only because I considered commercial, passenger carrying commercial airlines. Currently, these planes are only operated by Air Forces and logistics companies. FedEx operate N303FE, a DC-10 that’s 48.1 years old!

I’ve also only included major manufactures I am aware of and is listed on AirFleets. It would be worth validating if there are airlines flying from other manufacturers I am unaware of (I suspect there might be some in Russia).

Finally, I’ve only considered a single plane of each model. Keep in mind, 26% of all commercial airliners are 737’s — there will be many other of these old models still flying.

tl;dr

C-GNLK, a 737 currently operated by Nolinor Aviation has been flying for over 47 years — almost 10 years longer than any other model.

Footnotes

  1. Data sources + data used in this post.
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