I flew on a Boeing 757-300!
This stretched 757 is, as you can see, one of the more unique-looking planes out there.
In fact, it’s the longest single-aisle airliner in the world.
Now, the 757 itself was envisioned as a successor to the trijet 727, and was originally developed
alongside the widebody 767 in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The 757 has two variants - the base model 757-200, which could seat up to 239 passengers,
and then the longer 757-300, seating up to 295.
The smaller -200 is still flying with quite a few different airlines, especially in the
States, but with only 55 built, the 757-300 can be a bit harder to find.
The majority of these are flown by United and Delta, but across the Atlantic, German
airline Condor still operates quite a few too.
So, back in September last year, I had some free time in Frankfurt between flights, and
naturally went looking to see if there were any interesting planes I could fly on.
Lo and behold, I found just that on one of Condor’s… many flights to Palma de Mallorca
in Spain.
The island of Mallorca is one of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago located off the coast
of mainland Spain.
The four largest islands in the archipelago are all very popular tourist destinations,
and so it’s no wonder Condor had multiple flights there this morning!
I ended up booking this surprisingly good round trip fare (at least, by Canadian standards)
just two days in advance.
I knew I was not gonna pass up the chance to cross this rare type off my list, even
if it did mean getting to Frankfurt Airport for a 4:45AM flight.
Fortunately, I was already wide awake and jetlagged enough so it worked out nicely!
Good thing I only had a backpack and digital boarding passes though, because having 6 or
7 flights full of German holidayers leaving at the exact same time leads to predictable
results.
After winding through the security line with said German tourists, I made my way down to
gate A20, where the first of two 757s today was waiting.
This one was a then-22 year old 757-300, registered as Delta Alpha Bravo Oscar Juliet.
Condor was actually the launch customer for the 757-300, and operated 15 of them over
the years, including the prototype, which has since been retired.
Condor’s also going through a bit of a fleet renewal at the moment.
Having operated Boeing 757s and 767s for decades already, they’ve slowly begun replacing
these with a mix of Airbus A321s and A330s.
Even though they’re being phased out, this exact plane actually got repainted just a
few months after I flew this, into Condor’s… bold new livery.
Now another big reason for being here is that I’ve never actually been on a 757 before.
So, that combination of a new type, a rare variant of that type, a relatively cheap fare
(again, by Canadian standards) among other aviation enthusiast justifications made this
a no-brainer.
Eventually, boarding started, with announcements obviously in German only, so I kinda just
blended in and headed down the jetway to my first 757!
My seat down to Palma is 14F, right near the second set of doors.
Now, the thing with Condor’s 757s is that they’re equipped with almost the maximum
number of seats, which means a knee-crunching 29 inches of pitch.
I knew going in that these two flights were not gonna be the most pleasant, but I deliberately
chose not to pay for an exit row just so I could get this fantastic engine view!
However, just the way the schedules ended up working out, this flight takes place almost
entirely in darkness.
Just to make sure I get a proper daylight 757 flight, I’m actually heading straight
back to Frankfurt once I get there, which should actually be on the plane right next
to us.
Two of the same plane might seem a bit overkill but I also wanted to have a backup just in
case one of them got swapped to a different type entirely.
As you can imagine for a very long single-aisle plane boarding finished up eventually, and
luckily I had a free middle seat for some extra space.
Right on time, we were pushing back and on our way to sunny Mallorca.
Here’s the departure from Frankfurt, with, as expected, some amazing sound from those
Rolls Royce engines, off of runway 18.
[RB211 music]
As awesome a takeoff as that was, there’s just not a whole lot of light at 4:45 in the
morning in September, so I was still looking forward to that daylight flight back.
I’ll save the walk around the cabin for that second flight too since it’s still
pretty dark here as well.
Looking around the seat though, I figured out how they’re able to make 29” somewhat
tolerable, and it’s the fact that the back of the seat in front curves in so it still
leaves more room around the knees.
Because of that shape, the usefulness of the seatback pocket is… debatable, but it’s
there.
The tray table is also pretty basic and folds down but doesn’t adjust.
There are also these channel and volume controls which don’t do a whole lot at the moment.
It is only a two hour flight to Mallorca, so I wonder if they actually show something
on the even longer flights to the Canaries.
That is, if you can see the screens at all.
They also have these coat hooks on the sides of the seats.
In the… slightly dirty, let’s not think about that too much, literature package, you’ll
find the safety card for the 757-300, Condor’s duty-free catalog, an air sickness bag in
their new unique branding, and then a menu for their buy-on-board service.
There’s no free food or drink for Economy Class passengers on Condor’s short-haul
flights so everything here has to be paid for.
Knowing that there was a very slim chance of many places being open in Frankfurt, I
pre-ordered some breakfast when I booked the flight.
That also came with a small complimentary beverage, but I kinda forgot to specify still
or sparkling water.
I ended up buying a bottle of still water for 3 euros a little later.
This breakfast cost 5 or 6 euros while I was booking online, and wasn’t bad at all.
It was well worth waiting a bit longer to eat on the plane rather than wait in line
for 20 minutes at one of the few places that were open.
Considering we left right on time, and would be landing in Mallorca about 20 minutes before
sunrise, there just wasn’t a whole lot to see outside.
The crew went down the aisle with carts of duty free and then turned off the lights for
the remainder of the flight.
It did get a bit brighter outside as we descended, so here’s the arrival into Palma,
landing on runway 06L.
With that, it was time to say goodbye to this 757 and make my way across the airport to
the other one parked just behind it.
I would’ve loved to stay and actually see some of this beautiful island, but the airplanes
kinda took priority this time.
Besides, I had my flight from Frankfurt to Whitehorse the following day, so there wasn’t
a whole lot of room for stuff to go wrong!
Palma de Mallorca Airport is the third busiest airport in Spain, and serves the island of
Mallorca with many seasonal flights to the rest of Europe.
As limited as my time here was, the terminal was certainly bright and easy enough to navigate.
Over at gate C64 is the other 757 I’ll be flying on this trip, wearing Condor’s 50th
anniversary special livery, and registered as Delta Alpha Bravo Oscar November.
This livery has Condor’s German slogan painted on it, which as translated into English means
“We Love To Fly”.
It’s the only Condor plane in this paint job too, which was just pure luck to get it
on this specific turn!
After leaving one group of tourists just starting their holidays, it was time to blend into
another group ending theirs, and head back to Frankfurt.
I paid a little bit extra to board early and managed to get a couple different cabin shots.
And yes, these seats go… impossibly far back, and I’ll walk around the cabin to
see that for myself once we get in the air.
My seat heading back north is 13A, a row up on the opposite side this time.
For some reason, this row had a whole extra inch of legroom compared to the one behind,
and for the same price.
A very welcome surprise!
As expected, this row also has another great view of that RB211, plus the plane I just
got off of!
In daylight though, you can really see how bare-bones these seats are.
Comfort-wise there were fine for the flight down here, but a 4 or 5 hour flight to the
Canary Islands might be a different story.
Then again, these seats kind of reflect the price anyway so I doubt it’s an issue for
most people just wanting an inexpensive getaway.
Less than an hour after I got off that last flight, we were already pushing back.
Just as I was hoping for on the flight down, this takeoff was indeed spectacular.
Now THAT was a departure to remember!
That was exactly what I wanted from this whole thing, some incredible RB211 buzz and a gorgeous
view of Spanish countryside.
The seatbelt sign stayed on for about the first half of the flight as we went through
a couple bumps.
Another buy-on-board service soon started, and I got myself another bottle of water and
this pretzel with butter for about 6 euros total.
The pretzel was pretty tasty and just what I needed for a mid-morning snack.
Unlike the previous flight, this time we actually had a chance to take in the sights as we crossed
over the South of France.
These views only got even better as we approached Switzerland and passed over the Alps.
We also encountered an EasyJet A320 around there too!
Eventually, the seatbelt sign came off, and I got to walk all the way to the back of the
plane.
This… sure puts things into perspective.
It’s a good thing European airports sometimes use the front and back doors for boarding,
‘cause it feels like this plane does not end!
The 757-300 also has 6 exits on either side of, with 2 overwing exits and then 4 larger
doors.
I don’t think there’s any other airliner out there with that sort of exit configuration.
You can see why it’s necessary though!
Condor’s 757-300s can seat up to 275 passengers.
At the very front are a couple rows of what can be either Business Class or Premium Economy
in a typical Eurobusiness layout.
That means they’re the same seats as the rest of the plane, but the middle seats are
blocked off.
As is typical in Europe though, that number of seats can change.
Also, after we landed, I asked the crew if there was any chance I could take a look at
the flight deck, and they were more than accommodating!
I’m very grateful to have been able to sit in the pointy end of one of these planes before
they’re retired from passenger service.
There’s just something about the brown interior of this generation of Boeing flight decks!
That was such a great way to end a fun morning of flying nowhere, so a huge thank you to
our excellent Condor crew.
We eventually crossed back into German airspace, and here’s the arrival back into Frankfurt,
landing on runway 07R.
So that was my little joyride on the Boeing 757-300.
I had a great time flying on Condor’s 757 both ways, and I’m so glad I did this while
I was here.
It’s one of those rare airliners that I’d always wanted to fly on somehow, and this
really was the perfect opportunity.
As nonsensical as flying across Europe for a very specific airplane sounds, it is exactly
what I love doing, and kind of what this channel is all about.
As more and more 757s get retired in favour of more fuel-efficient types, I know I’ll
be looking back on these two flights fondly.
That being said, I’m thinking I should probably find a smaller 757-200 at some point…
But that’s a video for another time.
Thank you so much for watching these couple of flights with Condor’s 757,
and I will see you in the next one.