The End of an Era: Condor’s 757-300

With Condor retiring their 757-300s at the end of the summer 2025 schedule, and the farewell flight set for November 5th, I knew time was running out. I barely had any decent shots of the type in my archive — and given how iconic the stretched 753 looks in Condor’s livery, that just wasn’t acceptable. So, a friend and I planned a trip to Palma de Mallorca in mid-October. Not only is the island’s landscape stunning, but Palma de Mallorca also had up to six daily Condor 757-300 flights — making it one of the best places to catch them in action before they disappeard from the skies.

This trip was all about getting those final, shots: line-ups, landings, night shots, and shots of the aircraft taxiing — everything. Here’s a summary of some of the highlights from the island, plus the return flight to Frankfurt aboard the red D-ABOM.

Zurich to Palma de Mallorca

ZRH–PMI aboard Condor’s A321neo (D-ANMW)!

For our three-day trip to Palma de Mallorca, we hopped onto Condor’s A321neo from ZRH to PMI. It was an absolutely gorgeous flight — almost the entire journey took place during sunset, as we were flying southwest with the sun, where it sets a bit later than in Switzerland. The view out of the window looked surreal, almost like being inside Microsoft Flight Simulator. Unfortunately, like many flights, this one was far too short — but we still had everything ahead of us: the 757-300 mission!

The Early Bird Gets the Flying Pencil

After a short night, we headed straight to the airport. Not even the thunderstorm could hold us back.

My first highlight: Sunclass' A330-900, Copenhagen – Palma de Mallorca

In the afternoon, while heavy thunderstorms and flooding hit the island — turning streets into rushing rivers — we drove west, away from the storm. After countless hairpin turns and narrow roads, we passed through a beautiful little village called 'Valldemossa' and eventually reached the stunning town of 'Deià'.

Deià, Palma de Mallorca

A Day Full of 757s

D-ABOH, PMI–DUS

D-ABOH was lining up in the early morning blue hour back to Germany. A perfect start to a day full of 757s!

D-ABOM, FRA-PMI

Since I was using my Canon 5D Mark IV, a full-frame camera, together with the Tamron 100–400, the spot on the parking garage overlooking Runway 06L was just barely within reach. Even so, I needed the full 400 mm for narrowbodies, which wasn’t easy to handle in the strong wind. When D-ABOM — the “rote Ringelsocke” — touched down, I was lucky enough to get two or three sharp shots.

Right after the 757 arrived, we drove back to the hotel for brekkie and then headed straight to the next spotting location, where you can see the line-ups for Runway 06R. We wanted to catch D-ABOM’s departure as well — and timing worked out perfectly, because the takeoff was delayed. The sun rose just in time, giving us a bit of light on the aircraft!

It couldn’t have been any better for me — the perfect line-up angle to see just how incredibly narrow and yet unbelievably long this aircraft really is, especially compared to its competitors like the Airbus narrow bodies. When the engines roared, I got goosebumps and consciously took in every second of the moment, knowing that it wouldn’t be possible much longer.

The evening flights from Germany were scheduled to arrive while it was still daylight, but they were heavily delayed — which turned it into a night-spotting session instead. Not too bad either!

D-ABON | 50mm | 1/80 | f/2.8 | ISO 2'500 – «Willi – Wir lieben Fliegen» livery

D-ABOK | 50mm | 1/80 | f/2 | ISO 4000

D-ABOK | 50mm | 1/80 | f/2 | ISO 4000

D-ABOK | 400mm | 4" | f/10 | ISO 100

Our First and Final Journey on Condor’s 757

Finally, the day had come: we flew from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt — on board the very Boeing 757 we had chosen on purpose. It was one of the last remaining flights of Condor’s 757s before this era would come to an end. We knew that only three weeks later, on November 5th, the final Condor 757 would be retired — and that knowledge made every moment of this day feel special.

The rain didn’t make it easy — my camera insisted on focusing on the droplets instead of the wing. Still, at least we got a fun little Rolls-Royce tornado out of it ;-)

After thousands of departures, this aircraft had just 24 remaining. 16mm | 1/640 | f/7.1 | ISO 400

As we lined up on Runway 06R, the two beautiful Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4B engines came to life. I photographed through the window — or rather, held the shutter down nonstop. I started to feel dizzy from looking through the viewfinder the entire time, and we were pushed deep into our seats — until the moment we finally lifted off. What a fascinating takeoff that was.

The entire flight carried a unique feeling: it was a first time, yet at the same time a last time, on a Condor 757-300.

16mm | 1/1250 | f/2.8 | ISO 800

After a beautiful — yet far too short — flight, we landed in Frankfurt. Shortly afterward, we were allowed to visit the flight deck and moments later, we stepped inside. The captain welcomed us warmly into the cockpit, where the window was opened, letting in the cool autumn air. You could see and feel that this aircraft had served for many years; every instrument and every lever carried the marks of time. The cockpit was still one of the classic ones — filled with analog instruments and old-fashioned gauges, a piece of aviation history in front of us. The captain, who had flown the “57” for 17 years, even switched on the instrument lighting just so we could take a realistic photo. He told us that this very aircraft would perform the final flight of Condor’s 757 fleet — and that he would have the honour of flying it one last time.
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We knew we would never board this aircraft again.

A farewell to a legend: the long “Flying Pencil,” of which only 55 were ever built.
To our delight, we parked on a stand rather than at a gate, allowing us to exit via the stairs — up close, with my 16 mm lens ready to capture a few last shots of the red candy cane. The day could not have ended any better.