Next month will mark the end of an era in the modern European commercial aviation industry, with German leisure carrier Condor planning to operate its final flights with aircraft from the Boeing 757 family this November. It has flown the ‘flying pencil’ for 35 years, but is now looking to modernize its fleet.
Following this development, there will be relatively few airlines operating aircraft from the Boeing 757 family on flights to and from Europe, with a surprisingly high number of these services coming in the form of longer intercontinental sectors. With this in mind, let’s see where these can be found.
Condor Prepares To Retire The Boeing 757
Condor announced last month that it would soon be bidding farewell to its final 
Boeing 757-300 aircraft, marking the end of 35 years of operations for the family (also including the 757-200) at the German leisure carrier. The final scheduled services with the type are currently set to be a round trip from Düsseldorf (DUS) to Palma (PMI) on October 29 and Frankfurt (FRA) to Hurghada (HRG) on November 2.
However, given the 757’s close connection to the carrier, Condor’s final farewell to the type will come in the form of a special round trip from Frankfurt to Vienna (VIE) on November 5. While many of those on board will be representatives of the airline, Condor also auctioned 75 tickets in order to allow members of the public to join the party. Commenting on the destination, Christian Schmitt, its COO, said that:
“Our expanded network [has] new city connections. That is why our farewell flight combines the nostalgia of our last 757 with a joyful look into the future, symbolized by our city destination, Vienna.”
United Airlines Is The Top Boeing 757 Operator In Europe This December
With the 757 soon to depart from Condor, what options do European fans of the ‘flying pencil’ have left this winter? Using December as an example, data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that 309 flights to and from airports in Europe are set to be served by the 757 in the final month of 2025. All of these will be operated by the smaller 757-200 variant, and 
United Airlines has the biggest share.
Indeed, the Star Alliance founding member is responsible for 226 of the 757’s 309 flights to and from airports in Europe this December, with Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Edinburgh (EDI) being the top route. Served daily, there will be 31 flights each way, putting it just ahead of Dublin (DUB) to Newark and Washington (IAD), which are served daily except for December 24 (eastbound) and 25 (westbound). Edinburgh to Washington will also see United deploy its 757s, albeit at a lower frequency of five times a week each way.
United’s only other European 757 flight in that month is a sole service from Porto (OPO) to Newark on December 1, with this being the carrier’s last flight on the route until February 21 of next year. According to ch-aviation, United has 40 757-200s in its fleet at an average age of 28.8 years old, with aeroLOPA showing that they have a grand total of 176 (16 business class and 160 economy class) seats onboard.
The Best Of The Rest
Away from United Airlines, Icelandair has also penciled in 51 flights on European routes with the Boeing 757-200, with these having lower frequencies and a far more diverse geographical spread. Indeed, the top route, from Rome (FCO) to Keflavik (KEF), will only be served four times in December.
As far as routes from Keflavik with three Boeing 757-200 rotations penciled in are concerned, these destinations include Copenhagen (CPH), Helsinki (HEL), New York (JFK), and Seattle (SEA). Meanwhile, Glasgow (GLA) and Innsbruck (INN) will see two, while Amsterdam (AMS), Barcelona (BCN), Dublin (DUB), Frankfurt (FRA), Manchester (MAN), Paris (CDG), and Stockholm (ARN) will see just the one.
Russian charter carrier is the only other airline with scheduled Boeing 757 flights out of Europe this December, and these come in the form of its route from Moscow (VKO) to Male (MLE) in the Maldives. These 4,070-mile (6,550 km) services have block times of nine hours plus, and will operate three times a week for most of the month in December 2025. From Christmas Day onwards, they will increase to daily.
