Nearly 40 Years On The Clock: The Oldest Active Boeing 767s

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Later this year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Boeing 767’s first-ever test flight, which took place in September 1981. The twin-engine widebody entered service the following year, and, today, certain examples remain in active service nearly four decades later. Using data from our friends at ch-aviation.com, let’s examine the world’s oldest active 767s.

ABX Air Boeing 767
ABX Air operates the world’s active Boeing 767. Photo: Venkat Mangudi via Wikimedia Commons

The oldest of the lot

Clocking in at a staggering 39.44 years of age, the oldest example of the Boeing 767 family that is still active bears the registration N740AX. It flies for US cargo airline ABX Air, and has done so since 2006. According to ch-aviation’s data, it is just the sixth 767 (out of a total of more than 1,200) to have ever been built. It entered service with Delta in March 1983.

Interestingly, the aircraft’s entry into service took place more than a year after its first flight, which occurred in February 1982. It began life as a passenger-carrying example of the original 767-200 variant. According to Planespotters.net, Delta flew the aircraft, which was then registered as N101DA, with 18 business and 186 economy seats.

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Still in use approaching 40 years old

After 23 years with Delta, N101DA left the Atlanta-based and SkyTeam founding member for pastures new. It joined ABX Air in January 2006, and was re-registered as N740AX in March that year. In June 2006, it underwent a cargo conversion.

ABX Air Boeing 767
ABX Air has flown N740AX for 15 years. Photo: Timo Breidenstein via Wikimedia Commons

It has remained there ever since, and RadarBox.com reports that, at the time of writing, it last flew on July 19th, 2021. The data from RadarBox shows that it is keeping itself nice and busy even at this age, having operated four flights on July 17th alone.

To get an idea of the busy life that N740AX has had, it is worth taking a look at its usage data. As of February, the aircraft had completed 91,286 flight hours across 43,388 cycles. These figures represent 1,111 cycles a year, with each cycle averaging out at two hours and six minutes long. This yields an average daily usage time of six hours and 24 minutes.

The best of the rest

The data from ch-aviation shows that, of the world’s remaining active Boeing 767s, there are a further 14 examples that are more than 38 years old. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all of these aircraft are cargo-carrying examples of Boeing’s popular mid-size twinjet.

Star Air Boeing 767
Star Air flies some of the world’s oldest 767s. Photo: Jake Hardiman | Simple Flying

Ranging from 38.02 to 38.84 years old, these aging twinjets fly cargo for a diverse variety of carriers located all around the world. ABX Air operates a further three of these golden oldies, as does Danish airline Star Air. The other operators are as follows.

  • 21 Air (USA) – N652GT.
  • Amerijet International (USA) – N653GT and N743AX.
  • Astral Aviation (Kenya) – 5Y-SNL.
  • ATI / Air Transport International (USA) – N739AX.
  • DHL International Aviation Middle East (Bahrain) – A9C-DHM.
  • Mas Air (USA) – N773AX.
  • Raya Airways (Malaysia) – 9M-RXB.

Did you know that such old examples of the Boeing 767 were still active today? What’s the oldest aircraft that you’ve flown on? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.



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