UK bids farewell to Boeing 757 passenger flights after 42 years of service

On Sunday, January 5, 2025, British carrier Jet2 operated the UK’s last Boeing 757 passenger flight. The aircraft that operated the service, a rotation from Manchester (MAN) to Geneva (GVA), is being retired, marking an end to almost 42 years of Boeing 757 passenger services by UK-based airlines.

The final flight, operated by 37.3-year-old Boeing 757-200 registered G-LSAI departed Manchester at 10:05, landing in the Swiss city at 12:40 local time. The return flight saw the aircraft arrive back at Manchester at 15:24, bringing the curtain down on over four decades of commercial passenger flights by the Boeing twin-engine narrowbody.

Jet2 is a British low-cost airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. With around 120 Boeing and Airbus aircraft in its current fleet, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind British Airways and easyJet. Jet2 is also rated as the largest tour operator in the UK having overtaken TUI in 2023.

Bradley Caslin / ShutterstockAs the UK’s last passenger 757 operator, the airline started 2024 with eight 757s although these were gradually retired towards the end of the year. With just three airframes remaining by the star of 2025, the carrier’s third-last aircraft (G-LSAE) ferried from Manchester Airport to St Athan Airport (DGX) near Cardiff in Wales on January 2, 2025, for parting out and scrapping, leaving sisterships G-LSAI and G-LSAK at Manchester. While G-LSAK operated its final flights on January 4, 2025, G-LSAI was left to operate the Geneva rotation on January 5, 2025 – the last time a UK airline will carry passengers on the type.

Jet2 operates the final Boeing 757-200 (G-LSAI) passenger flight after 20 years. The final delayed flight, LS811 from MAN to GVA, marks the end of the UK’s 757 era, which began with BA in 1983. Jet2 has been progressively retiring the type since late 2024.: Unknown pic.twitter.com/HXDUacSWkG— Airways Magazine (@airwaysmagazine) January 5, 2025 According to a Jet2 source speaking to AeroTime, the airline hopes that G-LSAI will perform a fly-past over the airline’s headquarters and main UK base at Leeds-Bradford Airport (LBA) during its final flight from Manchester to Wales on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 (weather dependent) as it heads for scrapping.     

The Boeing 757-era began in the UK when British Airways operated its first commercial service using the type on February 9, 1983, relacing Hawker Siddeley Tridents on UK domestic ‘shuttle’ services. The Boeing 757 had only just entered service with Eastern Airlines in the US on January 1, 1983, and British Airways was the second global carrier to take delivery of a 757. The airline operated a total of 53 757-200s until the type was retired in 2010 with many being converted to freighters for DHL (UK) and of which, five remain in service.

The Boeing 757 was designed to operate medium-range, transcontinental flights and to offer airlines operational efficiency, versatility, and performance which surpassed that offered by the types it replaced. The 757 provided an advanced, two-man cockpit with high-technology digital displays. The aircraft’s two Rolls Royce RB511 engines allowed the plane to operate from shorter runways, while it also met increasingly stringent ICAO Stage 3 noise regulations making it attractive to airlines and passengers alike. The aircraft could carry up to 235 passengers in a single-class, high-density configuration.

Michel Gilliand / Wikimedia CommonsBoeing built 1,050 757s between 1982 and 2004, and according to ch-aviation, only around 210 continue to fly passengers. There are, however, still around 270 that continue to operate cargo-only flights. According to the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, across 3.1 million flights, UK passenger 757s have amassed 8.1 million flight hours – equivalent to 928 years airborne. These UK-registered aircraft carried 471 million passengers over the years.

In chronological order, the UK carriers that operated the Boeing 757 included British Airways, Air Europe, Monarch Airlines, Air 2000/First Choice, Anglo Cargo, Britannia Airways/Thomsonfly/TUI, Caledonian Airways, Inter European Airways, Ambassador Airways, Airtours/MyTravel, Flying Colours/JMC-Air/Thomas Cook, British World Airlines, DHL Air (UK), FlyJet, Astraeus Airlines, Titan Airways, XL Airways, Jet2,  FlyGlobespan, BA OpenSkies, and TAG Aviation. Other airlines such as BMI and easyJet operated leased-in 757s while 2Excel continues to operate a single example registered G-FTAI on (non-passenger) special missions.  

jremes84 / ShutterstockThe 757 remains in active passenger service with Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Icelandair, although as the average age of these aircraft increases, retirements are likely to accelerate in 2025.

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