Boeing

The Boeing Company today delivered a Boeing 757-300 to Icelandair, the Icelandic carrier with an all-Boeing 757 fleet.

Icelandair currently operates nine 757-200s and one 757-200 Freighter. With the addition of the 757-300, Icelandair becomes the first carrier in the world to operate all models of the 757 simultaneously.

Icelandair also becomes the first airline to operate a dual-class 757-300 in the European market. The airplane will carry between 215 and 228 passengers, depending on configuration.

Icelandair will begin operation of their new 757-300 on the route between Reykjavik, Iceland, Copenhagen and London. With the flexibility and performance inherent to the 757 family, the carrier will be able to use the 757-300 to serve all existing markets, including Europe and North America.

"We will use this great aircraft to respond to the ever-increasing demand for Iceland as a destination in our key markets and to continue to offer our home market in Iceland excellent frequency and service," said Icelandair President and CEO Sigurdur Helgason.

At 179 feet (54.5 meters), the 757-300 is the largest single-aisle twinjet and has the lowest operating cost per seat-mile of any single-aisle or mid-sized airplane in its class. The airplane's interior is based on the award-winning design of the Boeing 777, using state-of-the-art lighting and design concepts to enhance the feeling of spaciousness.

"Throughout its history, Icelandair has devoted itself to providing its customers with the best service possible, and we're proud that the 757 has contributed in part to their great success," said Pat Shanahan, 757 program vice president and general manager. "Combined with Icelandair's installed fleet of 757-200s, the 757-300 will provide the carrier the flexibility to match capacity with demand and realize the corresponding economic benefit."

The 757 is environmentally friendly: It burns less fuel than older mid-range airplanes, meets community noise restrictions well below current Stage 3 limits and complies with strict new international emissions standards.

"The Boeing 757 has an excellent reputation as an environmentally friendly airplane," said Heiner Wilkens, senior vice president and general manager of Boeing in Europe. "This is an essential quality for any airline operating into the busy, noise-sensitive airports of Europe. It also offers the best economics of any aircraft in its category."

After years of success in the European inclusive tour operator market, the efficient single-aisle 757-300 debuted in scheduled, dual-class service in the North American market last year. The model has carried more than 1.3 billion passengers, more than four times the population of the United States and Canada combined. The 757 fleet has flown the equivalent of nearly 25,000 roundtrips between the Earth and the Moon.

The Rolls-Royce RB211-535 engine will power Icelandair's new 757-300. This engine type has the lowest delay, cancellation, in-flight shutdown and removal rates in its class, a factor that has given many airlines significant advantages through lower operating costs.

Icelandair operates flights from Boston, Baltimore/Washington, New York (JFK), Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Orlando, Fla., with nonstop service to Reykjavik and onward connections to Amsterdam, Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Frankfurt, Germany; Glasgow, Scotland; Paris and London.

The 757-300 also serves the European market in the fleets of Condor of Germany, JMC Airlines of the United Kingdom and Arkia of Israel.