Ryanair vs Southwest: We tracked two Boeing 737-800s for a week to see which flew more
Two Boeing 737-800s. Two continents. Seven days of flying. But do airlines on the opposite sides of the Atlantic use aircraft in the same way?
Here at Aerospace Global News, we decided to find out…
We tracked two near-identical Boeing 737-800s for seven days during the peak summer travel season: one operated by Ryanair across Europe, the other by Southwest Airlines across North America.
We measured total miles flown, total hours flown and the range of airports visited. And after seven days of tracking both aircraft, the results were far closer than you might expect.
So which Boeing 737-800 worked hardest: Ryanair’s European workhorse or its Southwest Airlines counterpart in the US?
Meet the contenders
The two aircraft that have been selected for this challenge have been selected to give (as much as possible) a like-for-like comparison.
Both are 7.9 years old, according to data obtained from Planespotters.com (allowing for a level playing field for despatch reliability), and have flown with the same single operator since their delivery from Boeing in 2018.
EI-GSH (Ryanair)
This Boeing 737-800 operates for the European low-cost airline Ryanair. Having first been delivered to the Irish carrier in September 2018, the aircraft is powered by a pair of CFM International CFM56 turbofans.
It is configured to accommodate 189 passengers in a single-class, all-economy layout. The aircraft has operated for Ryanair on the Irish register as EI-GSH throughout its flying career.
The aircraft spends its time operating between Ryanair’s hub airports across Europe and North Africa, as well as to some smaller, more local airports across these regions.
N8582Z (Southwest Airlines)
This Boeing 737-800 operates for the US-based budget carrier Southwest Airlines. Having first been delivered to the US carrier in September 2018 (and thus will have probably sat alongside EI-GSH at Boeing’s Renton assembly plant), the aircraft is also powered by a pair of CFM56 turbofans, but this time is configured to accommodate 175 passengers in a single-class, all-economy layout.
The aircraft has operated for Southwest on the US register as N8582Z throughout its flying career.
The aircraft spends its time operating between Southwest’s North American hub airports, as well as to some more regional centres across the US.
Monday, 3 August 2026
Ryanair starts strongly from Frankfurt…
The chosen week (3-9 August 2026) began with the Ryanair example at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN) in Germany, completing a short hop to Ryanair’s primary UK operating base at London Stansted Airport (STN) as FR1748, a flight which lasted just 53 minutes. The aircraft then operated a rotation to/from Cork (ORK) in the Republic of Ireland, before a return flight from Stansted to Naples (NAP) in Italy.
The day ended for EI-GSH with a return flight to Cluj-Napoca (CLJ) in Romania, before night-stopping at Stansted. In all, the aircraft operated seven sectors and flew for 12 hours and 37 minutes, covering 5,323 nautical miles (nm), with an average sector length of 761 nm.
Southwest focuses on US hub-to-hub flying…
The Southwest aircraft began its week in St Louis (STL), operating a flight to the major Southwest hub at Houston (HOU). It then set off for a flight to Indianapolis (IND) before continuing to Kansas City (MCI).
Once in Kansas City, the aircraft was turned around for a flight to Orlando (MCO) before heading to Nashville (BNA). For its final sector of the day, the aircraft flew to Detroit (DTW), where it would night-stop.
On its first day of the week, N8582Z operated seven sectors and flew for nine hours and 34 minutes, covering 4,144 nautical miles in total, with an average sector length of 691 nm.
Tuesday, 4 August 2026
Ryanair adds southern European routes…
Ei-GSH began the day at Stansted with a return flight to Rimini (RMI) in Italy. It then continued later that morning as FR2668 to Bergerac (EGC) in France before heading back to Stansted and operating a rotation to Malaga in Spain, ending the day back at its Stansted base.
For the day, the aircraft operated six sectors and flew for 11 hours and 12 minutes, covering 4,705 nautical miles with an average sector length of 784 nm.
Southwest heads west across the US…
For N8582Z, its first flight of the day was from Detroit to Denver (DEN) as WN4886. It then proceeded to operate to Phoenix (PHX) before heading back to Kansas City, where it had visited the previous day. Flights to Nashville (BNA) and onwards to Tampa (TPA) would conclude the day, with the aircraft staying in Florida overnight.
On the second day of its week, N8582Z operated just five sectors, flying for eight hours and 57 minutes, covering 3,871 nautical miles in total with an average sector length of 774 nm, just ten miles short of that of EI-GSH on the same day.
Wednesday, 5 August 2026
Ryanair’s shortest day of the week…
The third day of the week would start with EI-GSH at its Stansted base and operating a return flight to Lodz (LCJ) in Poland before a rotation to Hamburg (HAM) in Germany.
The aircraft then flew from Stansted to Marseille (MRS) in Southern France, where it would complete the day operating a return flight to Mahon (MAH) on the Spanish island of Menorca. The aircraft then stayed at the French airport overnight.
For the day, the aircraft operated seven sectors and flew for eight hours and 42 minutes (its shortest day of the week so far), covering 3,622 nautical miles with an average sector length of just 544 nm.
Southwest covers 4,622 nautical miles…
N8582Z started the Wednesday at Tampa before operating flights to Dallas (DAL), Chicago-Midway (MDW), back to Dallas, and onward to Denver before heading back to Tampa, where once again it would spend the night.
On the third day of the week under scrutiny, N8582Z operated just five more sectors, flying for ten hours and nine minutes, covering 4,622 nautical miles in total with an average sector length of 932 nm.
Thursday, 6 August 2026
Ryanair flies French domestic routes…
The following day, with EI-GSH in Marseille, the aircraft would spend much of the day operating French domestic routes, kicking off with a rotation to Nantes (NTE) in northwest France, before following this up with return flights to Lille (LIL) and then to Tours (TUF). The aircraft operated a return international flight to Naples from Marseille during the middle part of the day.
For the day, the aircraft operated eight sectors and flew for 11 hours and three minutes, covering 3,544 nautical miles with an average sector length of just 443 nm, its shortest average sector length so far.
Southwest is diverted to Kansas City…
N8582Z started Thursday once more in Tampa before operating flights to Houston and back, before heading to Nashville and onward to Omaha (OMA). The return flight from Omaha to Nashville was diverted to Kansas City (the only operational anomaly of the week for either aircraft), where it then operated back to Omaha before heading to Denver and El Paso (ELP), where it would night stop.
On the week’s fourth day, N8582Z operated seven sectors, flying for eight hours and one minute, covering 4,125 nautical miles in total with an average sector length of just 516 nm.
Friday, 7 August 2026
Ryanair’s longest day of the week so far…
Friday would start with EI-GSH heading from Marseille across the Mediterranean Sea to Marrakech (RAK) in Morocco and back. The aircraft would then fly domestic short-haul return flights to Nantes before heading back to Morocco, this time operating a return flight to Ouarzazate (OZZ) before night-stopping back in Marseille.
For the day, the aircraft operated six sectors and flew for 11 hours and 50 minutes (its longest day of the week so far), covering 5,198 nautical miles with an average sector length of 866 nm.
Southwest also records longest day…
N8582Z started Friday, 7 August, in El Paso before heading to Denver, St Louis, Baltimore (BWI), and Phoenix. The day would end with the aircraft flying as WN4718 from Phoenix to Houston, where the aircraft would lay over before the weekend’s flying.
For the day, N8582Z operated just five sectors, but flew for 11 hours and 16 minutes, covering 5,089 nautical miles with an average sector length of 1,018 nm, the longest recorded for the week so far.
Saturday, 8 August 2026
Ryanair flies for 10 hours and 52 minutes…
With one of the busiest weekends of the year kicking off, EI-GSH began Saturday operating six more domestic flight rotations between Marseille and Nantes, Lille and Tours – all visited earlier in the week.
The one change saw the aircraft operate a return flight from Marseille to Ouija-Angads Airport (OUD) in Morocco, before ending the day back at its temporary base in Marseille.
During the sixth day of the week, EI-GSH operated eight sectors and flew for ten hours and 52 minutes. The aircraft covered 3,966 nautical miles with a relatively short average sector length of 466 nm.
Southwest has it’s quietest day of the week…
N8582Z, meanwhile, started the weekend in Houston before operating flights to Las Vegas (LAS – the first visit of the week), Columbus (CMH), Dallas, and Oakland (OAK).
For the day, N8582Z operated just four sectors (surprisingly, the quietest day of the week so far), although it flew for 11 hours and 16 minutes. The aircraft covered 5,331 nautical miles with an average sector length of 1,331 nm, by far the longest of the week so far.
Sunday, 9 August 2026
It’s back to Marseille for Ryanair…
For the final day of this analysis, EI-GSH departed from Marseille to Marrakech and back, before heading once again to Nantes and back. It then headed to the Moroccan city of Rabat (RBA), before ending its week back in Marseille.
For the last day of the week, EI-GSH operated six sectors and flew for nine hours and 54 minutes. The aircraft covered 4,847 nautical miles with an average sector length of 808 nm.
Southwest ends the week in Tampa…
Over in the US, N8582Z started its final day in Oakland before operating Southwest services to Salt Lake City (SLC – another first visit for the week), Las Vegas, Detroit, Nashville, and back to Tampa, where it would end the week.
On the last day of the week, N8582Z operated five sectors and flew for eight hours and 23 minutes. On the final day, the aircraft covered 3,772 nautical miles with an average sector length of 772 nm.
Ryanair versus Southwest – which airline flew its 737-800 the most?
Reviewing all the metrics measured, it is clear that the Ryanair 737-800 worked harder than its Southwest Airlines counterpart during the week in question.
EI-GSH flew more sectors, more miles, more flight hours, and offered more capacity than N8582Z. It also recorded higher total figures for average sectors per day, average hours per day, and average miles flown per day. Notably, the only metric for which the Southwest plane scored higher was for average sector length, beating the Ryanair figure of 650 miles by 164 miles.
In terms of cities visited during the week, the Ryanair plane visited 19 airports across Europe and North Africa, whereas the Southwest plane stayed within the continental United States, operating to 17 different cities. With its higher capacity overall, the Ryanair aircraft offered 9,072 revenue seats for the week versus the 6.650 offered by N8582Z.
While this experiment analysed two randomly selected aircraft for a random week in a random month, despite being based on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, that they finished the week having flown just 251 miles different from each other is remarkable, given the number of hours flown and sectors completed.
Lastly, it should be recognised that both aircraft completed seven days (and 48 sectors/38 sectors, respectively) of intense flying with no technical delays or cancellations. This is surely a testament to the reliability of modern jet aircraft and the engineers tasked with keeping them in the air.
Note: All historical flight data in this article has been sourced from the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. Route mileage was compiled from data sourced from GCMap.com
