Icelandair Accelerating Boeing 757 Retirement Plans Amid Rising Fuel Prices
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Featured image: Icelandair
Just like the Boeing 747, passenger Boeing 757s are slowly reaching the end of the line as airlines take delivery of more fuel-efficient aircraft.
Facing increased maintenance costs and rising fuel prices, Icelandair has started accelerating plans to retire its entire fleet of 757s, in favor of newer and more fuel-efficient aircraft. Currently, they operate nine Boeing 757-200s, six of which operate regularly scheduled flights, while three are used for various charter services. While the 757s are definitely work horses, they are up there in age, all of them being over 25 years old. On top of that, Icelandair also operates three Boeing 767-300ERs with an average fleet age of 27 years old.
The Icelandic carrier has gone through a major push to modernize its fleet, taking on 17 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, four MAX 9s, and will take on a total of nine Airbus A321LRs (six of those already delivered) and 13 longer-range A321XLRs.
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Originally, Icelandair wanted to hold on to its 757s until summer 2027, but based on its latest network planning reports, they will bring up the fleet’s retirement period to winter 2026. Besides increased maintenance costs and difficulty to source parts, rising fuel prices as a result of the conflict in the Middle East has put unneeded pressure on the airline, making it very hard for them to absorb these costs.
As for their Boeing 767s, the carrier announced late last year that they would also bring up their retirement timeline, aiming for around the same time period as the 757s, after originally planning to keep them until 2029. At the time, that decision was attributed to weakening demand for travel to the United States.
With 90% of flights now being operated by some combination of either their Boeing 737 MAX or Airbus A321neo-family aircraft, they are seeing fuel saving of about 30% over more traditional operations.
I suspect if it were not for the summer period, Icelandair might have pushed for an even earlier retirement. For now, Icelandair is looking forward to three more A321LRs deliveries, but will have to wait until at least 2029 before their A321XLRs join the fleet.
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