Boeing 737-600

Updated: October 2026 – A 737 rolls by, you know the engines from the Next Generation, but the fuselage looks so short that the wing seems almost too big for it. Winglets? None. Then you may have a real rarity in front of your lens: the Boeing 737-600. Boeing built only 69, and most have long since disappeared from scheduled service. Here you learn how to reliably identify the smallest NG, who has flown it and where you can still find the last aircraft.

What is the Boeing 737-600?

The 737-600 is the smallest member of the 737 Next Generation, the third generation of Boeing’s bestseller. The NG family also includes the 737-700, the 737-800 and the 737-900 along with the 737-900ER. The -600 was meant as the modernized successor of the 737-500 from the Classic generation – accordingly it is practically just as long.

At about 31.2 meters long, it has room for about 110 passengers in a typical two-class cabin, and for about 130 in a dense layout. According to Boeing data, the fuel tank is enough for just under 6,000 kilometers with 110 passengers. That means the small NG flies farther than, say, the -800, because it carries the same large wing with plenty of tank volume but less weight in the fuselage.

Technically, the -600 shares everything essential with the rest of the NG family: the newly designed, larger wing, the revised tail, the glass cockpit and the CFM56-7B engines. There was no other engine option. Its size class roughly matches the Airbus A318, which was also only moderately in demand as the smallest version of a large family. You can read more about the manufacturer in the profile of Boeing.

History: SAS as godfather, WestJet as the final point

Boeing had started the Next Generation with the -700 at the end of 1993. The smallest variant got its push from Scandinavia: SAS Scandinavian Airlines set the -600 in motion as launch customer in the mid-1990s.

The first flight followed on January 22, 1998, and certification by the US aviation authority FAA on August 18, 1998. In September 1998, SAS took over the first production aircraft. For years SAS remained by far the most important operator and used the small NGs mainly in the intra-Scandinavian and European network, including from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.

Other customers came along only sporadically. Tunisair first ordered four aircraft in 1997 and expanded the fleet to seven by 2001. Air Algérie received its first -600 in 2002. In China, the now-dissolved China Southwest Airlines flew the type, later Air China.

The final point was set by WestJet: the Canadian airline took over the last new-builds, and the final delivery took place in 2006. WestJet had originally planned winglets for its -600s but dropped them in 2006. Boeing itself never offered winglets for this variant. The -600 stayed on the price list until 2012, but no new orders came in. In the end, 69 delivered aircraft remained.

Why so few?

The -600 suffered from a typical problem of small family members: it carries the large, heavy wing and the systems of its longer siblings but spreads the costs over clearly fewer seats. For most airlines, the 737-700 or straight to the -800 paid off more. Airbus’s A318 fared similarly, and even Boeing’s successor in this segment, the 737 MAX 7, turned out much larger than the -600.

The three features that are enough to identify it

From the front, all NGs look the same. You unmask the -600 through proportions, wingtips and the comparison with the Classic generation.

These three points narrow the type down reliably. The final word, as always, is the registration – with such a small fleet, every aircraft can be assigned unambiguously. How to find a specific aircraft by registration or hex code is explained in the guide Tracking an aircraft by registration.

737-600, 737-500 or 737-700?

The most dangerous mix-up lurks within the 737 family itself. The -500 is almost the same length, and the -700 only a good two meters longer.

Feature	737-500	737-600	737-700
Generation	Classic	Next Generation	Next Generation
ICAO type designator	B735	B736	B737
Length	about 31 m	about 31.2 m	33.6 m
Wingspan	about 29 m	about 34.3 m	34.3 m, with winglets about 35.8 m
Engine	CFM56-3	CFM56-7B	CFM56-7B
Winglets	not provided from the factory	never offered	common, from the factory or retrofitted
Overwing exits (per side)	1	1	usually 1

Against the -500, wing and tail decide: the Classic has much shorter wings, a lower vertical stabilizer and smaller engine nacelles. The -600, by contrast, looks “over-winged” for its fuselage. Against the -700, length helps – and often just a look at the wingtips. How the four 737 generations differ in principle is shown in the article How to tell the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

737-600 or Airbus A318?

Outside the Boeing family, the A318 is the obvious mix-up. Both are short narrowbody jets with a stubby silhouette, but the manufacturer features remain unmistakable.

The basic rules on the question of manufacturer are in the article Telling Airbus and Boeing apart. How to separate the small Airbus variants from each other is explained in Reliably telling the A318, A319, A320 and A321 apart.

Operators and retirement

The story of the -600 is by now mainly a story of farewells. An overview of the most important operators:

• SAS: The launch customer flew the -600 for about two decades. In the course of switching to an all-Airbus fleet, SAS gave up the small 737s in 2019; the last scheduled flight of an SAS 737-600 took place at the end of November 2019. Its very last 737, a -700, SAS retired in November 2023.
• WestJet: The Canadians received the last new-builds and used the -600 in the North American network for many years. In the current fleet overview (as of September 2026), the type no longer appears.
• Tunisair: The seven aircraft from 1999 to 2001 flew for many years in the Mediterranean and European network. In current fleet listings, the airline only lists the -600 as a historical type.
• Air Algérie: According to publicly available fleet overviews, five -600s were most recently still in the fleet – which makes the Algerian state airline one of the last scheduled operators.
• Janet: The shuttle fleet operated on behalf of the US Air Force runs six -600s in white livery with a red cheatline. The aircraft come from Air China, four of them having flown earlier for China Southwest Airlines. They commute from Las Vegas to secluded test sites in Nevada.

Because many aircraft have already been scrapped, the active fleet shrinks from year to year. For collectors, this means: if you do not have the -600 in your log yet, you had better not wait too long.

Why discontinued models like this make up the appeal of the hobby, you can read in Spotting rare aircraft. How to rank the rarity of your sighting is shown in How rare is my sighting?.

Spotting tips: where the last 737-600s show up

In the German-speaking region, the -600 is a real exception today. With SAS’s farewell, the regular visits from Scandinavia have also dropped away. If you go through old pictures from Copenhagen Airport, Oslo Airport or Stockholm Arlanda Airport, you find the -600 there in SAS colors – today, other types are in focus at spots like the Flyvergrillen or the Arlanda spotters’ hill.

The most realistic chance for a scheduled 737-600 is Air Algérie. The airline flies a dense network to France, for example to Paris Orly Airport or Marseille, and to other European countries. Which aircraft type flies a particular rotation changes often, though; a look at the type code B736 in the tracking service is therefore a must.

For the Janet fleet, the path leads to Las Vegas. The white 737s take off and land at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, where Sunset Park is a popular spot. How to plan a spotting trip to the desert city is explained in the guide Plane spotting in Las Vegas. Stick to the publicly accessible areas – photos of restricted areas are off limits.

Place	Chance of success	Why
Las Vegas Harry Reid	medium	Home base of the Janet shuttles
Airports with Air Algérie connections	low to medium	Individual rotations with B736, check current use
Scandinavia	very low	SAS retired the type in 2019
Germany, Austria and Switzerland	very low	At most ferry flights, charters or diversions

The runway direction in use decides whether you get landings or takeoffs in front of you; how to judge it is explained in Understanding runway direction in use at an airport. How to follow flights live is shown in the guide to Flight tracking with ADS-B.

Photo tips specifically for the 737-600

With such a rare type, one thing matters above all: a picture that clearly shows the special features.

When the light fits at your spot, you calculate with the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot. How to tell the engine generations apart is explained in How to recognize engines, and everything about wingtips is in How to recognize winglets, sharklets and split scimitars.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The 737-600 is the footnote of the Next Generation – and precisely for that reason a collector’s item. SAS got it going, WestJet took the last new-builds, and with 69 built it remained the rarest NG variant. By now it has disappeared from most fleets; most recently, mainly Air Algérie and the Janet shuttles in Las Vegas were known as operators.