Boeing 737-500

Updated: October 2026 – Short, compact, with two fat engines that look as if someone had squashed them flat at the bottom: that is what a large part of short-haul traffic in Europe looked like in the 1990s and 2000s. The Boeing 737-500 was the smallest version of the 737 Classic and was meant to replace the aging 737-200. In Germany it flew mainly with Lufthansa, in Scandinavia with Braathens and Maersk Air. Today it is a rare find in Central Europe. Here you learn where it comes from, who flew it, where it is still out and about and how to tell it from its siblings.

What is the Boeing 737-500?

The 737-500 is a twinjet narrowbody for short and medium routes. It is the shortest version of the second 737 generation, the so-called Classic, which also includes the 737-300 and the longer 737-400. It is certified for up to 140 passengers, but most airlines fitted it with about 100 to 132 seats.

Like all Classics, it is powered by two CFM56-3 engines from CFM International. The engines are much more economical and quieter than the old Pratt & Whitney JT8Ds of the 737-200; depending on the source, about a quarter less fuel consumption is mentioned. Because the fuselage is short but the tanks stayed the same size, the -500 has the longest range of the Classic family. Common figures give about 4,400 kilometers depending on configuration.

You get the big overview of all generations from the original 737 to the MAX in the article How to tell the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart. More about the manufacturer is on the page for Boeing.

Origins: a modern 737-200

In the mid-1980s, the Classic was already doing well with the -300, and the longer -400 was in the works. But many airlines still had large fleets of the 737-200 with a good 100 to 130 seats. For them, the -300 was actually already too big. They wanted an aircraft of the old size but with the new technology: CFM56 engines, a modernized cockpit, the same type rating as the other Classics.

In May 1987, Boeing first presented the project under the name 737-1000 and soon renamed it the 737-500. The idea was simple: take the -300 and shorten the fuselage until it matched the length of the -200 roughly. In the end, the -500 was only just under half a meter longer than the -200. According to the airline history of Maersk Air, the short version came about explicitly at the request of the Danes and other airlines that wanted to replace their -200s.

The launch customer was Southwest Airlines. The first flight took place on June 30, 1989, and in February 1990, Southwest took over the first production aircraft. The Europeans followed shortly after: Maersk Air got its first -500 in April 1990, and Lufthansa and Braathens also put the type into service in 1990.

By the last delivery in 1999, Boeing had built 389 aircraft. For comparison: 1,113 of the -300 and 486 of the -400 were built. In total, the Classic comes to 1,988 aircraft. In the Next Generation, the -500 was followed by the 737-600, which, with only 69 sold, remained far behind its predecessor.

The defining operators

Southwest Airlines: the launch customer

Southwest Airlines operated 25 aircraft of the version. The Texans originally bought them for new, longer routes with still low demand – exactly where the -500 made use of its range. As those routes grew, the low seat count became a disadvantage, and the aircraft moved mainly to short routes within Texas and neighboring states. Two -500s temporarily wore the well-known SeaWorld paint scheme with the orca Shamu. Southwest flew its last scheduled flight with the -500 on September 5, 2016, from El Paso to Dallas.

Lufthansa: 26 years of “Bobby” in the European network

Lufthansa had already been launch customer of the original 737 and stayed true to the type into the Classic era. The airline flew 33 aircraft of the -500, introduced in 1990 and retired by 2016. As usual at Lufthansa, the aircraft carried city names and complemented the larger 737-300s in the European and domestic network. During modernization, Lufthansa incidentally removed the small roof windows above the cockpit, the so-called “eyebrow windows,” on its -300s and -500s.

With the end of the Classic in fall 2016, Lufthansa said goodbye to the 737 completely. Today the Lufthansa Group flies Airbus on short-haul routes.

United and Continental

In the USA, United Airlines was also one of the big launch operators. The -500 joined the fleet in 1990 and stayed until 2009. After the merger with Continental Airlines, the -500 appeared once more in the United fleet, and the last three aircraft left in May 2013.

Scandinavia: Braathens and Maersk Air

In the north, the -500 was a familiar sight for a long time. Braathens SAFE flew 17 aircraft from 1990 to 2004, mainly in the Norwegian domestic network with about 124 seats; the larger -400s took on charter flights instead. With the merger into SAS Braathens, the fleet passed into the SAS world.

Maersk Air of Denmark used 24 aircraft over the years, from 1990 to 2005. Its British subsidiary Maersk Air UK replaced its BAC One-Elevens with -500s in 1996, which flew on behalf of British Airways in its colors. Estonian Air, in which Maersk held a stake, also got two -500s. When Maersk Air was sold in 2005, the 737s were leased to Sterling.

Airline	737-500 service	Note
Southwest Airlines	1990 to September 2016	Launch customer, 25 aircraft
Lufthansa	1990 to 2016	33 aircraft, customer code 737-530
Braathens SAFE	1990 to 2004	17 aircraft, Norwegian domestic network
Maersk Air	1990 to 2005	24 aircraft, also Maersk Air UK
United Airlines	1990 to 2013	Return after Continental merger
Ukraine International Airlines	2001 to 2018	13 aircraft, taken over used

A second career in Eastern Europe, Russia and South America

The -500 had the typical fate of small jets: with rising fuel prices, the cost per seat is high, and larger aircraft pay off better. Many original operators therefore gave up their -500s after only about 21 years – earlier than the larger -300. But the airframes were still in good shape and cheap to get. So a large part of the fleet moved on to second operators.

In Ukraine, Ukraine International Airlines built up a -500 fleet of 13 aircraft in total from 2001 and flew it until 2018. In 2018, UIA announced it would replace its last Classics with newer 737s and Embraer jets.

In Russia, several companies bought used -500s, including Rossiya, S7, Smartavia, Yamal, Transaero and above all Utair.

In South America, Aerolíneas Argentinas replaced its 737-200s with used -500s. Individual aircraft also serve as government or military transports, among others with the air forces of Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Remaining service today: Utair and Africa

As of fall 2026, the -500 has practically disappeared from Western European scheduled traffic. If you still want to see one fly, look mainly to the east and south.

Utair, based in Khanty-Mansiysk with hubs in Moscow Vnukovo and Surgut, is the best-known remaining major operator. In August 2025, its fleet still listed just under 20 aircraft of this version with 116 or 126 seats. Many of them carry registrations from Bermuda with the prefix VQ-B, as is common at Russian airlines. The type has also made headlines at Utair: in February 2020, the landing gear of a -500 collapsed during landing in Usinsk, and all 100 people on board survived.

Since 2022, Russian airlines have no longer been allowed to enter EU airspace. So you only see a Utair 737 in Russia itself or in countries that Utair still serves. Before you unpack your camera there, be sure to read the article on photography bans in Russia and Belarus – spotting can quickly bring trouble there.

In Africa, individual -500s still fly with smaller companies. One example is Air Peace of Nigeria, where a -500 ran off the runway in Port Harcourt in July 2025. How many aircraft the airlines still operate actively changes quickly – aircraft often sit on the ground for months or are retired without announcement.

How to recognize a 737-500

In the field, three steps are usually enough to place the -500 reliably.

How to check such features systematically is explained in the introduction Recognizing aircraft types for beginners. Why the Classic engines are shaped so oddly is covered in the article How to recognize engines: the big CFM56 fan only fit under the low 737 wing with a flattened underside and moved forward.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

The most obvious mix-up is with the 737-300. Both share engines, wing, cockpit and the number of exits. Only a look at the proportions helps here: the -500 has much less fuselage ahead of the wing. Once you have seen the two side by side, you will spot it right away later.

Trickier is the 737-600. It is almost as short and also has flattened engine inlets. Its wing, however, is longer and more slender, with more than 34 meters of span, and the tail tapers more sharply. The 737-200 can also look similar from a distance, but its long, thin engines give it away quickly. You can find more about wingtips and winglets under How to recognize winglets, sharklets and more.

Spotting tips for a rarity

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a 737-500 is a stroke of luck today: perhaps a ferry flight, a maintenance flight or a government aircraft. A sighting usually only becomes plannable while traveling. How to judge how special your find is is explained in How rare is my sighting?, and general strategies are in Spotting rare aircraft.

Photographically, the three-quarter view from the front is worthwhile with the -500: it shows the squashed engine inlets and the short fuselage at the same time. A pure side profile documents the proportions best and later makes it easy to tell it from the -300. Note the registration right away, because with so many changes of owner, an aircraft’s origin is often the most exciting part.

Conclusion

The 737-500 was Boeing’s answer to a simple question: how do you get the size of the 737-200 with the technology of the Classic? The result flew reliably for decades with Southwest, Lufthansa, United and in Scandinavia and then lived on with second operators. In Central Europe it is long history, but in Russia and Africa it is still in service – and that is exactly what makes it a rewarding target for spotters.