Now heading into Manchester for the CAPA Airline Leaders Summit 2022, I needed to find what different flight reports I could bring here. The answer was closer than I imagined.

Having arrived from Italy with leisure carrier Jet2 (read that trip report clicking here), I remembered they still operate a fleet of Boeing 757-200. Having a look at FlightRadar24, I saw that all of them were Manchester-based, so I went for it.

The 757, as most aviation enthusiasts know, is already a classic, and an increasingly rare one, particularly in Latin America.

Being rare, however, does not a loved airplane make; the Boeing 757 conquered the minds of aviation enthusiats in the world, amongst other reasons, for its sleek lines, pushing the envelope of what a narrowbody could be, and for its fantastic performance. It is not for nothing that it has been labeled “The Seattle Rocket”.

Ten years ago, if you wanted to fly the 757 from there, you had to go to the US — as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways had flights with it to different cities across the continent — fly from Caracas with SBA Airlines or from Northeastern Brazil with TACV.

In 2018, SBA Airlines went bust and two years later COVID sped up a process of retirement that was already going on in the US. Today, only Delta serves Latin America with the Boeing 757.

Back to the UK, luckily I found a last-minute trip to Fuerteventura was possible, going in one day with Jet2 and returning in the next with Ryanair. According to Planespotters.net, Jet2 operates a fleet of eight 757-200s, all of which are based in Manchester.

Again, booking with Jet2 was seamless. Besides flying the 757, I’d put their product to test a second time; did I just luck out in my first Jet2 experience or were they really that good?

I arrived to the airport leaving from Manchester Piccadilly train station. There’s a lot of talk about Britain’s train system, and while in some stances the tickets I’d paid that week were insane for short regional services, the one to Manchester Airport was actually really good. It helps that the airport is close to the city, the train trip lasting about half an hour.

LS909 MAN-FUE

I arrived to the airport with plenty of time to spare, since that week’s scandal in Manchester was the horrific situation of lines in the airport. Terminal 2, from where the flight would depart, was a quick walk away from the station.

On my way to the terminal, I received this email. That was a first — even more because they nominally mentioned the supplier causing the issue — but I appreciated it nonetheless.

This was the list of operators from Manchester Airport back then. Pretty diverse.

And these were the departures from Terminal 2 that day. Jet2 is definitely a strong player in the local market. They were the third largest carrier on April, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi application, just after easyJet and Ryanair.

But because their business is highly seasonal, they more they double in size for the summer season; on August they were the town’s second largest, just after Ryanair and not by much.

And if you’re still wondering about Jet2’s leisure focus, look no further than this routemap.

Anyway; I needed a visa check, but in less than five minutes I had my boarding pass in hand, as all was handled in a breeze by the Jet2 team.

Safety screening was a little bit more of a pain, but even then nothing really bad. Fifteen minutes and I was on my way to the terminal windows.

The day was beautiful for flying — and for photos too, by the way. Jet2 operates a few Airbus A321s, as you can see in this picture.

On my way to the gates, it was nice to see the airport cheering the local heroes.

Once I arrived to the gate, there was my ride for the day; G-LSAB.

I love that they don’t even hide their low-cost roots; in this livery, their slogan is written in Lucida Handwriting font… now that’s a new kind of cheap.

G-LSAB is quite a road warrior, to say the least, accumulating, according to Planespotters.net, ten different airlines from six countries and seven different operators since it left the factory back in 1988, some 34 years ago.

The 757-200 was originally delivered to Air Holland, but it also operated for Odyssey International, Sterling Airways, Britannia Airways, El Al, Martinair Holland, Air Anatolia, Fly Air and Channel Express — later renamed Jet2.

Still, the cabin was in pristine conditions, pretty much what I’d seen in my first flight with the airline.

Boarding took quite a bit of time as the flight was full, but everything was relatively orderly all things considered. I think I was the only person traveling alone to Fuerteventura that afternoon!

At 15h13, two minutes before schedule, the doors were closed; pushback followed nine minutes later.

Rain started to fall just as we lined up on the active runway, reminding passengers on why they were taking their well-deserved holiday.

But even though that was a four-hour flight, this was an easy mission for the “Seattle Rocket” to handle. Weighing 98 tons — of which, some 19.5 tons of fuel –, G-LSAB started to have throttle applied to its pair of shining Rolls Royce RB211.

And they started to answer; what followed was one of the funniest take-off runs I can recall. At 15h34 G-LSAB climbed like a bullet, producing a fantastic sound of which videos just cannot make any justice.

The climb was quite smooth despite the clouds that now surrounded the Greater Manchester.

And just in a few moments we were past the clouds.

Before the onboard service started, a pic of the retro overhead panel…

…and the downside of flying the 757, the smaller overhead bins. Jet2 also uses them to promote their destinations in a minimalist fashion.

Because I was upfront, I had no trouble getting the food option I wanted. The sandwiches tasted really really good.

Add to this the fantastic service from the flight attendants. I realised that I didn’t luck out on my first flight; it appears they are all incredibly motivated and happy, something you don’t see very often elsewhere. That’s definitely a great start to any vacation.

After the service, a quick visit to the lavatory; its door still showed signs of its previous Dutch operator.

The toilet was adequate as far as airplane lavatories go, but one thing that struck me…

… was this worrisome picture.

All in all the mood in the cabin was great, full of families having fun in their vacations (after arriving, I was told by a local waiter that Fuerteventura is the “family-friendly” Canary Island).

But if you’re traveling one of this long flights with them, make sure you have a power bank and a book, since they don’t offer phone charging nor any entertainment, apart from a promotional magazine that serves very well its purpose of selling more holiday packages.

Another round of coffee while I listened to some podcasts I had downloaded, to pass the time.

The podcasts helped, and at 19h05 we started our descent into Fuerteventura.

Now that was a great welcome to the Canaries.

Fuerteventura looked brilliant during the approach…

…and we landed on time at 19h31, 19 minutes before schedule.

During deboarding, since we had gotten to our destination quite early, I still had time to snatch some pictures of the cockpit, since it was my first time flying the 757.

It’s a cool panel, practically the same as the 767s.

Before returning to Manchester, the proud crew also allowed for some photos of them. I could only briefly have a chat to them, but still it was clear they were quite proud of flying the 757!

And before leaving, a last picture of Jet2’s 757 cabin — practically the same as in the 737 fleet, which adds to the commonality — something that’s paramount for any low-cost carrier.

In about 20 minutes, I was past immigration, leaving in the now-empty Fuerteventura terminal which at that time, still before the high season, just expected a couple of flights for the rest of the day.

That was it: I didn’t luck out in the first time, Jet2 was actually that good.

Final remarks

Well, as much as flying a 757 for the first time was great, it was even better to see that yes, Jet2 did provide a consistent, great product.

The prices were honest, food was good, but the most importantly, their people were amazing throughout; that’s something you don’t really see much these days, but Jet2’s employees were the best advertisement for the airline?

Can they improve anywhere? Of course: providing some sort of entertainment system (even if it’s power plugs), something I hope their next generation of jets should provide.

Or well, base aircraft in Italy so I can fly them more often… just kidding, of course. But from now on, whenever I need to go the UK, I’ll definitely prefer them over anyone else; low fares, friendly service and definitely a great value proposition. Well done, Jet2.