Identify

How to identify a 737-800

Count the overwing exits, judge the length, then check the type code. Our own drawings, no airline colours.

1. Count the overwing exits

The 737-800 has two Type III overwing emergency exits on each side of the cabin. EASA: Type-Certificate Data Sheet IM.A.120, Boeing 737, Issue 30 (PDF) The shorter 737-700 has one overwing exit on each side, which is a handy way to tell them apart. EASA: Type-Certificate Data Sheet IM.A.120, Boeing 737, Issue 30 (PDF)

The 737-900 also has two overwing exits each side, so for a -800 versus a -900 you need to judge the length. EASA: Type-Certificate Data Sheet IM.A.120, Boeing 737, Issue 30 (PDF) The 737-600, the smallest Next-Generation model, has one overwing exit each side, like the -700. EASA: Type-Certificate Data Sheet IM.A.120, Boeing 737, Issue 30 (PDF)

2. Judge the length

Lengths, from Boeing’s current tables: 737-700 33.6 m (110 ft 4 in), 737-800 39.5 m (129 ft 6 in), 737-900 42.1 m (138 ft 2 in). Boeing: 737 Next Generation (product page and spec table) · checked 29 Oct 2026 The 737-900 is 96 in longer than the -800: a 54 in section was added ahead of the wing and a 42 in section behind it. Boeing: Next-Generation 737 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning, D6-58325-7 Rev C (Oct 2025, PDF)

3. Look at the wingtips

737-700s, -800s and -900s were also delivered with winglets, for better cruise performance. Boeing: Next-Generation 737 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning, D6-58325-7 Rev C (Oct 2025, PDF) By 2004 Boeing offered winglets on the 737-700 and 737-800 (and on the Boeing Business Jets), to save fuel, extend range and carry more payload. Boeing: 737 family background page (archived 9 Dec 2004)

Winglets are tall: Boeing’s airport manual gives a 737-800’s wingtip as about 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) off the ground without winglets, and about 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m) with them, at operating empty weight. Boeing: Next-Generation 737 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning, D6-58325-7 Rev C (Oct 2025, PDF)

Our own head-on sketches, not to scale.

4. Look under the wing

The engines sit low: about 2 ft 1 in (0.64 m) of clearance under a 737-800’s engine at operating empty weight, down to about 1 ft 7 in (0.48 m) at maximum weight. Boeing: Next-Generation 737 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning, D6-58325-7 Rev C (Oct 2025, PDF) Mounting the engines under the wing freed up room for more seats, buffered some noise and made maintenance easier at ground level. Boeing: Select Products in Boeing History, 737 Commercial Transport (PDF)

5. NG or MAX?

The 737 MAX 8 is the same length as the 737-800, 39.5 m (129 ft 6 in), so length alone won’t separate them. Boeing: 737 MAX (product page and spec table) · checked 29 Oct 2026 The 737 MAX family uses CFM International LEAP-1B engines; the 737NG uses the CFM56-7B. Boeing: 737 MAX (product page and spec table) · checked 29 Oct 2026

The 737-8 (MAX 8): 160–180 seats two-class, up to 3,500 nmi (6,480 km), 35.9 m (117 ft 10 in) span, 12.3 m (40 ft 4 in) high. Boeing: 737 MAX (product page and spec table) · checked 29 Oct 2026

So a MAX 8 and a 737-800 are the same length; the engines and the flight-tracker code are the easier clues.

6. Check the type code

Flight trackers and flight plans call the 737-800 ‘B738’: the FAA type designator it shares with the BBJ2. The 737-700 is B737 and the 737-900 is B739. FAA Order JO 7360.1K, Aircraft Type Designators (effective 12 Jun 2025, PDF) · checked 29 Oct 2026 The 737 MAX 8 has its own designator, B38M, so a tracker can tell you which one you’re looking at. FAA Order JO 7360.1K, Aircraft Type Designators (effective 12 Jun 2025, PDF) · checked 29 Oct 2026

Its FAA designator is ‘P8’, listed as the 737-800 Poseidon. FAA Order JO 7360.1K, Aircraft Type Designators (effective 12 Jun 2025, PDF) · checked 29 Oct 2026

Test yourself

Three of our drawings. Have a guess, then open the answer.

Next: specs and engines →