The Two Common Aircraft I’ve Never Flown Before: Time To Change This

I’m a huge data and aviation nerd, and while I mainly write about airlines and cabin products, occasionally I love seeking out opportunities to try new aircraft types. Specifically, I love any opportunity to fly on a widebody aircraft. I love flying the A350 and the 787, both aircraft introduced in the 2010s that have completely changed the game for airlines from an economics perspective (they’re more fuel-efficient, and have optimised capacity and range). I also love flying the A380 and the 747 (two jumbo aircraft that I wish were more commonplace than they are), and have an affinity for the 777, which used to be my favourite plane. While I don’t love the A330 and A340 as much, I do appreciate them when flying in economy, where I enjoy the 2-4-2 layout. (Yep, I’ve listed all of the widebodies that I’ve flown.)

While I’m not as enthusiastic about narrowbody aircraft, I still have my preferences – the A220 is my favourite, and despite the fact that I’m not hugely excited about flying A320 and 737 family aircraft, I applaud the creative cabins that airlines have configured, especially upfront. For example, I’ll remember my flights in Singapore Airlines’ 737 MAX business class, JetBlue’s A321neo Mint Suite, and Aer Lingus’ A321XLR business class.

I figured I’d quickly run down some of the planes I fly the most, and talk about two aircraft I’ve been dying to fly and haven’t had the chance yet – and see whether I can get your thoughts on creative ways I can fly these planes.

The aircraft I’ve flown most often in the past 10 years

I track all my travel on the Flighty app (down to 2008 – the first flight I can remember), and Flighty has counted how many flights I’ve taken on each aircraft. Before someone says “who cares”, this is my blog:

• I’ve flown the 777 the most by far – I’ve flown 40 flights on a 777 in the past 18 years, spending 329 hours (that’s crazy – 13 days straight on a 777) and clocking 242,000+ km
• The next down the list in terms of distance is the 787, which I’ve flown 130 hours on 15 flights: I tend to fly the 787s on much longer routes, given that I’ve flown quite a few regional Cathay Pacific 777 flights in the past, and have done just over 100,000 km
• I’ve done 33 flights on an A330, though these have typically been over shorter distances: I’ve “only” done 103 hours, or 62,000+ km onboard an A330 (including that time in 2014-2015 when 13 of my flights in a row were on an A330). This included one flight on the A330neo, which I thought was fine but nothing special
• I’ve done 18 flights on an A350, clocking 128 hours or just under 90,000 km
• The narrowbody aircraft family I fly the most is the A320 family: I’ve flown 46 flights on the family, clocking 99 hours (54,000 km)

I’ll probably write a separate post detailing my favourite aircraft, though I wanted to share some of my travel habits that have led me towards these stats. As someone who grew up in Hong Kong, my home airline was Cathay Pacific, and as a family we’d fly them very often, even when travelling shorthaul – back then they had an entirely widebody fleet. This meant that we’d only travel on narrowbodies on the off-chance we were flying a different airline, or connecting in a different country (particularly within Europe – my first intra-European business class flight was between Zurich and Geneva in 2017). After I flew China Eastern’s 737 on a school trip in 2015, the next time I flew a 737 was in 2024 (on Ryanair) – that’s changed, and I’ve flown dozens of 737s since.

This Cathay Pacific A330 cabin is a major throwback, and I must’ve flown it at least a few times a year

With that in mind, I wanted to talk about two aircraft that I’ve never had the chance to fly, and would love to in the near future…

The 767: A comfortable last-generation jet that has always evaded me

I’m always looking for ways to review Europe-Asia premium cabins, and occasionally break this trend to write reviews of innovative new cabin products. Occasionally I just have to pick the most convenient flight to get to my next destination. I usually book a flight for one of these three reasons.

Through these categories, my flight has never fallen on a 767. I can’t believe that I’ve never flown the aircraft that, at its hey-day, accounted for 25% of the global widebody fleet. Well, I kind of can – Cathay Pacific never owned 767s, they were more prevalent in the U.S. (where my first ever visit was in 2024), and while Japan was also a massive market for the 767, the first time I’d ever flown a Japanese carrier was in 2019 on a Japan Airlines 777.

Delta 767 at Osaka Airport (as you can probably tell, not the plane I flew)

I’ve got an upcoming review trip where I would’ve loved to fly ANA’s 767, though I couldn’t make it work (the promotional ex-Seoul rate was sold out for all of the 767 flights on the positioning flights from Seoul to Tokyo). I’d also held an ANA 767 ticket in the past, though ended up swapping it out to Cathay Pacific when I saw award space (the ANA ticket was for a family trip and wasn’t cheap, and I figured that seeing four business class seats between Hong Kong and Tokyo in August was a unicorn award in 2023).

Here are some ideas where I could fly a 767, now that I’m based in London and have a bit more freedom to travel:

• Japan Airlines flies 767s domestically, and award space usually is wide open – actually, I may already have figured out a way that I could incorporate it into a future trip, though I’m still finalising the details of how this could work
• I could fly Delta or United’s 767 to/from the U.S. – I wouldn’t want to fly business class (if I’m going to be redeeming the miles for it, I’d much rather do so on an A330neo with an enclosed suite), though I’d definitely be interested in flying a 767 in premium economy
• I’ve generally been eyeing opportunities to fly Air Astana, which would involve a 767
• Icelandair occasionally operates some 767s to Heathrow (though I have no plans to visit Iceland soon – this could change, but Iceland is expensive…!)

The 757: An intriguing vintage narrowbody aircraft

The other aircraft I’ve also not flown before was designed concurrently with the 767 – the 757. I’ve not flown it for the same reasons – it didn’t really operate to Hong Kong, was even more rooted in the U.S. than the 767 was, and while it was massive in the UK at one point, I missed its hey-day when I moved over here. I remember Mega Maldives used to operate a 757 to Hong Kong, though we didn’t end up going to the Maldives at all.

While less surprising that I haven’t flown the 757 (compared to the 767, which was a global superpower), I’m still keen to fly what people coin “the racecar of the skies”. Not that I’ve ever driven a racecar or been into cars, though I’d still love the opportunity to fly the plane before it’s retired.

Looks like Chinese airlines generally do not operate the 757 anymore, sadly

It seems like there are only four major operators of the 757 today – Delta, United, Icelandair, and SCAT (of Kazakhstan). Icelandair occasionally flies a 757 to Heathrow, so perhaps I could grab a flight soon before the aircraft is phased out. Part of me is wondering why I would fly Icelandair’s 757, however, when I could write a (much) more useful review of one of their new A321neos or 737 MAX aircraft.

Honorable Mention: The Comac C919 – an aircraft I’d love to try

Here’s an aircraft that I’ve not flown before, though am not as in a rush to fly, as it won’t be phased out anytime soon. Specifically, I’d love to try the Comac C919, which currently operates out of mainland China to several destinations including Hong Kong.

At the moment, China Eastern, China Southern, and Air China operate the C919. It seems like there are some good ways to incorporate the C919 into a premium economy itinerary from Asia to London in the future (potentially trying Air China or China Southern’s A350 premium economy, which look extremely similar), so I may keep that in mind for a future run home.

Help me think of a way I can fly either aircraft

This is for the aviation nerds out there – I’m based in London, travel to see my family in Asia quite frequently, and also do some other trips occasionally on the cheap. My focus on this blog has always been to write useful reviews for cabin products that most of my readership could fly soon – for example, I’m much more interested in reviewing a brand-new cabin product that will be commonplace in a few years’ time, as opposed to being on the last flight of a plane that will be phased out.

With that in mind, if there are any creative ways you can recommend for me to fly the 757, 767, or Comac C919 in the future, I’d love to hear it!

Help me think of creative, blog-focused ways I can fly the 757/767/C919

Conclusion

I’m so privileged to have the chance to fly on a huge range of aircraft. Since my aim generally is to review the greatest and best of new cabin products at a reasonable price, I’ve ended up flying a lot of A350s and 787s. Stepping back, I realised I hadn’t ever flown the 767 or 757, two aircraft that were quintessential to the industry a few years back. This is partially because of my background and previous travel habits, but as a bit more of a free agent now, I’d love to hunt down opportunities to fly these aircraft (without jeopardising opportunities that I could be using to write useful reviews, which is always the priority).

Are there any aircraft you’ve never flown before? Which of these aircraft do you want to fly most?