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.
