A Boeing 757 flying from Greece to Germany was forced to divert to Italy over the weekend after its crew had to perform an engine shutdown shortly after departure. The right-hand engine on the Condor aircraft is said to have emitted multiple loud bangs while climbing out of Corfu, with flames also shooting from the turbofan.
As a result, the plane stopped its climb and flew onward at a low altitude before making an early and unplanned landing in Brindisi. Given the relatively late hour at which this incident occurred, a replacement aircraft couldn’t be sourced until the morning. However, a lack of suitable hotel accommodation meant that some passengers were forced to spend the night on the floor before flying again.
Condor flight DE3665 is a weekly passenger flight that is scheduled to leave Ioannis Kapodistrias International (CFU) on the island of Corfu in Greece at 19:50 every Saturday evening. Its destination is Düsseldorf (DUS) in northwestern Germany, where it is scheduled to land at 21:35 local time, giving the service a block time of two hours and 45 minutes. On August 16, it was operated by a Boeing 757-300.
“Condor dispatched a replacement aircraft [to] take passengers from Brindisi to Düsseldorf at approximately 10:30 [on Sunday]. We regret any inconvenience, but the safety of our passengers and employees is our top priority at all times.”
A Long Overnight Delay
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
According to data made available by Flightradar24, the stricken aircraft touched down at Brindisi Papola Casale Airport (BDS) in southeastern Italy at 20:02 local time on Saturday night, just over half an hour after its initial departure from Corfu. As noted above, the replacement jet would not come until Sunday. Per Condor, the engine fire was caused by airflow issues that sparked a chemical reaction.
According to aeroLOPA, Condor’s Boeing 757-300 aircraft have a maximum capacity of 275 seats, meaning that the 273 passengers onboard D-ABOK on Saturday represented a rather full flight. This caused some logistical issues as far as overnight accommodation in Brindisi was concerned, with Condor saying that “there wasn’t enough hotel capacity available locally, so not all guests could be accommodated.”
With this in mind, some passengers were faced with a night on the airport’s floor, for which, as Condor explains, “supply vouchers and blankets were [provided], and a few shops were also able to remain open.” According to RTL, passengers who were able to secure hotel accommodation are encouraged to submit evidence of their expenses to the airline in order for them to be able to claim compensation.
The Impacted Aircraft Remains On The Ground In Brindisi
Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis | Shutterstock
At the time of writing, tracking data made available by Flightradar24 showed that D-ABOK was still on the ground in Brindisi, almost two days after its dramatic engine fire and shutdown forced it to make an unplanned diversion to southeastern Italy. According to ch-aviation, the jet is 25.5 years old, and one of seven examples of the rare stretched Boeing 757-300 in Condor’s fleet. These are its only Boeing aircraft.
For the onward flight from Brindisi to Düsseldorf, D-ABOK was replaced by another Condor Boeing 757-300, namely one that bears the registration D-ABOI. This plane, which features a blue edition of the German leisure carrier’s newer striped livery, flew in from Frankfurt on Sunday morning, arriving in Italy at 10:08 local time.
First Delivery
December 22, 1982
Last Delivery
November 28, 2005
Number Delivered
1,050
The Boeing 757 is an aircraft designed by Boeing.
While, as noted earlier in the article, Condor was initially planning for the flight from Brindisi to leave at 10:30 yesterday morning, this ultimately took place two hours later, at 12:31. After two hours and six minutes in the air, it reached Düsseldorf at 14:37, with the passengers finally reaching their destination 17 hours late.
Transatlantic Boeing 737 MAX flights from the US and Canada to Europe are growing. Given the relative newness of the model, it’d be odd if they weren’t. According to the latest Cirium Diio data, the MAX has an average of 24 daily transatlantic flights in September, up from 19 daily in the same month last year. Air Canada, Icelandair, United Airlines, and WestJet will operate them.
Schedule analysis reveals that the Boeing narrowbody will operate 3.3% of all transatlantic passenger services. One in every 30 takeoffs will be on this type. Perhaps more surprisingly, the MAX will only operate a fifth of all such single-aisle flights. The A321LR and A321XLR—including those operated by Aer Lingus—are collectively much ahead (1,558 departures; 46.1%).
The 10 Longest Transatlantic MAX Flights In September
The entries include multiple never-before-served routes. They include WestJet between Halifax and Barcelona, which is Spain’s second most populous city, a tourist hotspot, and an important cruise location. Timed at up to 7h 45m back to Canada, with flights having headwinds, it is the joint-third-longest service aboard the single-aisle equipment. It is also the longest passenger route operated by a Canadian carrier from Halifax.
Icelandair (daily MAX 8 until September 13; it coexists with the A321LR, which will then operate exclusively again)
7h 45m=
Barcelona back to Halifax
WestJet. A brand-new route, which started in June 2025 (four weekly MAX 8; the last Canada-bound flight of the season is on September 29)
7h 45m=
Keflavik to Vancouver
Icelandair (four weekly MAX 8)
7h 45m=
Dublin back to Toronto
WestJet (daily MAX 8, but two daily flights on September 1, which is a hangover from the peak summer)
7h 40m
Edinburgh back to Toronto
WestJet (daily MAX 8, but two daily flights on September 1, which is a hangover from the peak summer)
7h 35m
Funchal back to Newark
United. A brand-new route, which began in June 2025 (three weekly MAX 8; the last US-bound departure of the season being on September 24)
7h 21m
Amsterdam back to Halifax
WestJet. A new route for the airline, which started in May 2025 (six weekly MAX 8, but down to four weekly later in the month). More on this link later in the article
Air Canada. A brand-new route, which started in June 2025 (three weekly MAX 8; the last Canada-bound departure of the season is on September 6)
* Even if once. They will vary at other times
** They will vary at other times. Other equipment is excluded. Each route’s full MAX operation is mentioned, even if not all services have the maximum time
Keflavik To Orlando Is Number One
With a block time of up to 8h 00m, Keflavik to Orlando ranks first by this measure. However, if the great circle distance is considered instead, it is ‘only’ the third-longest airport pair, behind the company’s services to Seattle and Vancouver. However, there’s not much in it.
The year-round route to Orlando is now entirely on the MAX 8. The 757-200, which served it for many years, was last flown in August, with the A321LR down to operate next summer. Unlike earlier this year, when Icelandair’s flights remained in Orlando overnight to maximize European connectivity, things are different now.
In September, 160-seat MAX 8s leave Iceland at 16:45 and get to Florida at 20:45. Returning, they depart just 70 minutes later at 21:55, and arrive back at 09:15. This connects to a growing range of flights to European cities that leave Iceland after 10:00. However, this middle-of-the-morning departure bank from Keflavik to other European airports is a summer setup. As such, Icelandair is returning to its overnight stay in Florida later this year.
WestJet’s Amsterdam Service Relies On Its KLM Partnership
After a two-year absence, WestJet returned to Amsterdam in May. While it used the 787-9 Calgary between 2021 and 2023, things are extremely different now. This time, it operates from Halifax aboard the 174-seat MAX 8. The Nova Scotia link was flown by KLM and Martinair in the 1990s.
WestJet serves Amsterdam a surprisingly high six times weekly during most of the summer, falling to a low of four weekly at times. This high frequency is influenced by WestJet’s codeshare agreement with KLM (they codeshare to multiple places via Schiphol, especially in France, Portugal, and Italy), together with the Canadian carrier’s (limited) connections over Halifax.
GE Aerospace named two new propulsion systems that will be offered as a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine to power the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-proposed Next Generation Responsive Strike (NextRS) demonstrator aircraft. The newly designated GE81 High-Mach Gas Turbine…
Steve covers military aviation, missiles and space for the Aviation Week Network, based in Washington DC.
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On August 1st, a British Airways Airbus A380 flying from Johannesburg OR Tambo International in South Africa to London Heathrow was forced to return to its point of origin due to reports of smoke in the cabin. It was later revealed that the problem even affected the jet’s crew rest area.
The issue forced the double-decker quadjet to return to Johannesburg. Because it didn’t perform a fuel dump, the landing was fairly heavy.
Boeing
Air Canada,
Star Alliance
