Jet2 Retires the World’s Oldest Boeing 737-800 After 29 Years

LEEDS, Nov. 9, 2026 — Jet2 has retired G-GDFD, the second Boeing 737-800 ever built and the oldest surviving 737NG, ending a 29-year career that spanned four European leisure airlines. Its retirement was reported on Monday.

The last flights

Final commercial flight: LS644, Ibiza to East Midlands, on Oct. 18, 2026.
Afterwards: ferried to Manchester on Oct. 19 for de-branding and lease return. By Nov. 5 it had moved to St Athan (DGX) in Wales, re-registered as 2-GDFD. Planespotters lists it as stored under NS Holdings Corporation as of Nov. 6.
What happens next: TBA.

A long career

Period	Operator / identity
Aug. 15, 1997	First flight as N35030
From Dec. 1998	Hapag-Lloyd (D-AHFB)
From 2005	Hapagfly
From 2007	TUIfly
From April 2011	Jet2 (G-GDFD)

The jet completed more than 30,000 flights and logged 81,999 flight hours as of March 18, 2026, according to UK CAA records cited by Aviation A2Z. It flew with 189 seats.

Jet2’s fleet

Jet2 still has about 90 737-800s and seven 737-300s. Its 30th A321neo, G-JZEA, was delivered in July 2026, and it has a firm order for 155 A321neos. Seventy-four of its 737-800s are getting split scimitar winglets.

What it means for non-revs

There is no direct staff-travel angle here. It is a milestone for anyone who loves the 737NG, and a marker of Jet2’s steady move from older 737s to A321neos.