Qatar Airways’ last Boeing 737 MAX 8 leaves fleet
Some Boeing 737 MAX 8s spent fewer than two years in Qatar Airways' fleet, with all nine of them being leased to IndiGo at some point.
Qatar Airways’ last Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which had not flown since August 2025, has left the airline’s fleet, with the carrier shipping the narrowbody to Shannon, Ireland.
As first reported by ch-aviation, Qatar Airways has no more 737 MAX 8s left, with the last aircraft of the type, registered as A7-BSF, departing Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) for Shannon Airport (SNN) on December 1, leaving the airline without any 737 MAX 8s in its fleet.
Qatar Airways had a total of nine 737 MAX 8s, all of which were gradually phased out throughout 2025. The carrier took delivery of the jets between April 2023 and May 2023, with all nine being airframes that were destined to Russia-based S7 Airlines, which could not take delivery of the aircraft due to the sanctions imposed on Russia and its aerospace sector due to the country’s illegal and genocidal invasion of Ukraine.
However, the 737 MAX 8s’ tenure with Qatar Airways was relatively short. The Qatari carrier had leased the aircraft to IndiGo from July 2024 (A7-BSA), August 2024 (A7-BSG, A7-BSE, A7-BSF, A7-BSH, A7-BSI), March 2025 (A7-BSC), April 2025 (A7-BSB), or May 2025 (A7-BSD), and upon their return to DOH, they were stored and eventually phased out.
Some of the 737 MAX 8s, including A7-BSC, A7-BSE, and A7-BSG, are now operated by Royal Air Maroc, planespotters.net records showed. The Moroccan carrier welcomed the trio on November 27, October 10, and September 25, respectively, with another duo of ex-Qatar Airways 737 MAX 8s, A7-BSA and A7-BSH, being scheduled to join Royal Air Maroc’s fleet soon.
According to Cirium’s Diio Mi, Qatar Airways’ last scheduled 737 MAX flights were in January, with the aircraft flying from DOH to either Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH) or Sharjah International Airport (SHJ).
After weeks of speculation, including pictures of half-painted Qatar Airways 737 MAX 8s, the airline confirmed that it would be taking delivery of a “small number” of aircraft of the type in March 2023. In a statement to AeroTime at the time, the Qatari airline said that it recently had “the opportunity to add a small number of B737-8 Max aircraft to its fleet in the coming months as it aims to add capacity to help drive future growth, especially in short-haul markets.”
“As a rapidly growing airline, these efficient and modern aircraft are a welcome addition to the narrow-body fleet to support our sustainable expansion plans as the world’s leading airline.”
(See my previous reporting at AeroTime here.)
At the same time as it has been phasing out its 737 MAX 8s, Qatar Airways has begun welcoming A321neo aircraft, with six deliveries between September and November. One of the A321neos, registered as A7-AJD, has already been leased to IndiGo.
All six narrowbodies were not taken up by AirAsia, enabling Qatar Airways to acquire them, per planespotters.net.
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