BOEING 757-300

The 757 was produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 757-200 entered service in 1983; the 757-200PF, a package freighter (PF) variant, and the 757-200M, a passenger-freighter combi model, debuted in the late 1980s.

The 757-300, the stretched version of the aircraft, entered service with Condor in 1999.With an overall length of 178.7 feet (54.5 m), the type is the longest single-aisle twinjet ever built, while being shorter than the 187.3 ft (57.10 m) DC-8-61/63. Designed to serve the charter airline market and provide a low-cost replacement for the 767-200, the 757-300 shares the basic design of the original 757, while extending the fuselage before and after the wings. Six standard cabin doors, two smaller cabin doors behind the wings, plus a pair of over-the-wing emergency exits on each side, enable the 757-300 to have a maximum certified capacity of 295 passengers. A higher MTOW of 272,500 pounds (124,000 kg) is specified, while fuel capacity remains unchanged; as a result, the stretched variant offers a maximum range of 3,395 nautical miles (6,290 km). Engines used on the type include the RB211-535E4B from Rolls-Royce and the PW2043 from Pratt & Whitney.  Due to its greater length, the 757-300 features a retractable tailskid on its aft fuselage to avoid tailstrikes.

Condor ordered the stretched 757 to replace its McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and serve as low-cost, high-density transportation to holiday destinations such as the Canary Islands. Because tests showed that boarding the 757-300 could take up to eight minutes longer than the 757-200, Boeing and Condor developed zone-based boarding procedures to expedite loading and unloading times for the lengthened aircraft.

The narrow-body twinjet succeeded earlier single-aisle airliners, and became commonly used for short and mid-range domestic routes, shuttle services, and transcontinental U.S. flights. After regulators granted approval for extended flights over water (ETOPS) in 1986, airlines also began using the aircraft for intercontinental routes.

Production of the 757 ended in October 2004, after 1,050 had been built for 54 customers. The 757-200 was by far the most popular model, with 913 built. Diminished sales amid an airline industry trend toward smaller jetliners led Boeing to end production without a direct replacement, in favor of the 737 family. The last 757 was delivered in November 2005. In July 2017, 666 of the narrow-body twinjets were in airline service.

Aircraft of similar role, configuration and era are: Airbus A321, Boeing 737-900ER, Boeing Business Jet, Tupolev Tu-204.