Classic Boeing 757 Airlines and Liveries

The Boeing 757 is now more than 40 years old, yet it remains an important part of the aviation industry and is still in use with airlines around the world – particularly as a freighter.

Over the past 40 years there have been some classic airlines that flew the 757, and some beloved liveries worn by the aircraft.

Here’s a selection of our favourites.

Eastern Air Lines

Photo (c) Aero Icarus

One of the launch customers of the 757, Eastern Air Lines wore its classic silver and blue liveries on its aircraft throughout the 1980s.

British Airways

G-CPET repainted in the Negus livery during October 2010 to mark the retirement of the Boeing 757 from British Airways’ fleet (John Taggart, distributed under a CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence)

G-BIKI taxiing at Heathrow in April 1996. The aircraft is painted in the Landor scheme which the majority of the B757 fleet displayed from 1984 until 1996 (Aero Icarus, distributed under a CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence)

Another launch customer, British Airways’ 757 fleet lasted till 2010 and saw many different liveries, from Negus, to Landor, World Tails, and the modern livery.

Northwest Airlines

Northwest Orient livery 757. Photo (c) Aero Icarus

Prior to its merger with Delta Air Lines, Northwest flew its Boeing 757s in the classic Northwest Orient livery, the so-called ‘Bowling Show’ livery, and the later silver livery.

Monarch Airlines

Boeing 757-200 G-MONB was the first aircraft of the type to be acquired by Monarch in March 1983. (Aero Icarus, distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence)

British leisure airline Monarch launched 757 operations when many of its peers were still flying older jet and prop types, and thus revolutionised the industry. It flew them almost until its demise in 2017.

Air Europe

Boeing 757-236 G-BKRM of Air Europe. (Eduard Marmet, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pioneering UK leisure carrier Air Europe soon found that its Boeing 737s were not big enough for its key routes, and so brought in the 757. It even used them on long-haul services to the United States.

LTU

Photo (c) Rob Hodgkins

Many will instantly recognise this classic red livery as that of German leisure carrier LTU, which flew Boeing 757s for many years.

Air Holland

Photo (c) Aero Icarus

A common sight in the 1980s and 90s, Air Holland flew Boeing 757s alongside its 737 fleet on charter services.

Ethiopian Airlines

Photo (c) Caribb

African airline giant Ethiopian Airlines flew Boeing 757s on its long-haul services for many years, before more modern types like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 replaced them.

Which is your favourite? Leave a comment below.

Boeing 757 Timelines

The new hardback book by Nigel Richardson charts the history of the Boeing 757 through full colour photographs and more. It looks at the different variants of 757, the use of the aircraft in military, cargo and government roles, and special chapters on the 757’s use with British Airways and Jet2.

Order Your Copy Here