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I have aircraft types like Boeing 767-3Q8, Boeing 767-33A, Boeing 767-3P6ER and many others. I know what ER means. But what is coded as 3Q, 33A, 3P6 etc.?

How can I convert it back to more common types like Boeing 767-300? Just replace last two symbols with 00?

nobody
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LA_
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1 Answers1

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Those are Boeing's customer codes. They denote which airline the aircraft was originally built for, not necessarily the airline that owns/operates the aircraft currently. For example, Southwest's customer code is H4 but they operate some 737-7BD's, which are from the AirTran acquisition. In your case, the Q8 means it was originally built for ILFC, a leasing corporation. A full list is available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boeing_customer_codes

Your assumption about replacing the customer code with 0s to get the plain old model is correct.

nathreed
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    Technically the code indicates a customer configuration, rather than a customer. E.g. KLM took delivery of several 737-8K2 and -9K2 models (Transavia customer code) that were ordered in a single batch with Transavia's own (Transavia got 737-7K2 and -8K2 models, no -9K2). – jwenting Aug 28 '14 at 13:04
  • As an aside, it is interesting to note that on the 787 it seems that Boeing has decided not to include the customer code at all and simply denote the model as '787-8' (for example) source – zelanix Aug 29 '14 at 12:43