Fast props and fuel stops - UEFA Europa League Play-Off 1st leg 22 August 2024

22 August 2024

Dinamo Minsk vs. RSC Anderlecht

in Mezökövesd, Hungary

Dinamo Minsk play their international home fixtures in Hungary these days. Anderlecht traveled to Debrecen and proceeded to Mezökövesd by land transport. For the Belgian team, it will be a very early morning arrival back into Brussels on Friday.

SN1183 BRU 1000-1210 DEB A319 OO-SSU (21/08/24)

SN1184 DEB xxxx-0405 BRU A319 OO-SSU (23/08/24)

Jagiellonia Bialystok vs. Ajax Amsterdam

Bialystok is quite far away from the next major airport in Poland. Therefore, Ajax had to fly to the outskirts of Warsaw and then travel another 200km further North-East to Bialystok for their first leg in this tie. Whether we will be up for another epic penalty shoot-out as in the previous round maybe?

KLJ2262 AMS 1300-1435 WMI B735 LY-JMS (21/08/24)

FC Lugano vs. Besiktas Istanbul

in Thun

Another club playing in exile at the moment is FC Lugano. Their stadium Cornaredo back home in Lugano is under redevelopment but should then finally be able to host international football again. For the time being, they play on an artificial pitch in Thun, quite a long way from Lugano. And for the second time this season they are hosting a visiting team from Turkey. Besiktas flew in from Sabiha Gökçen to Zurich, with nearby Bern's runway being too short for the Boeing 737-800 with a good load of passengers on board.

TK3303 SAW 1430-1625 ZRH B738 TC-JVO (21/08/24)

Linzer ASK vs. FCSB Bucharest

A rather small aircraft for the FCSB team and staff on their trip to Linz. On the way back to Romania, FCSB will travel directly to Sibiu, where they will play their next league fixture on Sunday evening.

TLJ304Q OTP 1015-1055 LNZ E145 F-HFCN (21/08/24)

TLJ748X LNZ 1150-1330 OST E145 F-HFCN (21/08/24, ferry flight)

TLJ748X OST 1220-1350 LNZ E145 F-HFCN (23/08/24, ferry flight)

TLJ304Q LNZ 1600-xxxx SBZ E145 F-HFCN (23/08/24)

RFS vs. APOEL Nicosia

It would appear that Latvia is particularly guest-friendly with their visitors from Cyprus. An Air Baltic Airbus A220-300 picked up APOEL from Larnaca on Wednesday and the same company will fly them back after the game on Thursday. Flights from and to Larnaca are very special to track at the moment. GPS spoofing means that they often get displayed with wrong positions and therefore the usual flight trackers pick up wrong flight patterns in the region around Cyprus.

BT7701 LCA 0655-1100 RIX BCS3 YL-CSE (21/08/24)

BT7702 RIX 0100-0450 LCA BCS3 YL-CSI (23/08/24)

PAOK Saloniki vs. Shamrock Rovers

It is a long trip for a small club if Shamrock Rovers have to travel to Greece. No wonder their charter aircraft had to make a fuel stop along the way from Dublin to Thessaloniki. The Embraer EMB-145's range was not enough, so the flight had to refuel in Liège.

AGR1901 DUB 0935-1205 LGG E145 PH-DWA (21/08/24)

AGR2901 LGG 1235-1620 SKG E145 PH-DWA (21/08/24)

Air Charter Europe Embraer EMB-145 PH-DWA seen at Corfu in June 2023

FK Molde vs. IF Elfsborg

By coincidence, two Nordic teams got drawn against each other. Yet, it still is quite some journey from Elfsborg near Gothenburg to Molde in Norway. A quick Saab 2000 propeller plane was chartered by the Swedish team, taking them to Molde in just over an hour.

FRO033 GOT 1130-1240 MOL SB20 OY-FSB (21/08/24)

FRO034 MOL 1230-1345 GOT SB20 OY-FSB (23/08/24)

SC Braga vs. SK Rapid Wien

Braga in the North of Portugal is known for its very particular stadium, with one end opening a view onto a rock formation. Whether Rapid Wien's players will have a spare second for this? In any case, they flew down to Porto with Austrian Airlines in just over three hours.

OS2651 VIE 1050-1310 OPO A320 OE-LBK (21/08/24)

OS1422 OPO 1355-1805 VIE A320 OE-LBK (21/08/24, ferry flight)

OS1421 VIE 0655-0920 OPO A320 OE-LBR (23/08/24, ferry flight)

OS2652 OPO 1000-1405 VIE A320 OE-LBR (23/08/24)

Viktoria Plzen vs. Hearts of Midlothian

One can only guess that the supporters of Hearts were happy to learn about their opponents for the play-off round. While they will certainly hope for more of the same in whatever league stage is to come for them, Prague and Plzen would be pretty popular amongst them. Meanwhile, the team traveled to Czechia with Eastern Airways, on an Embraer EMB-170.

EZE9581 EDI 1330-1635 PRG E170 G-CMLI (21/08/24)

EZE9582 PRG 1145-xxxx EDI E170 G-CMLI (23/08/24)

Double Aegean for APOEL - Europa League 26-27 February 2020

26 February 2020

SC Braga vs. Glasgow Rangers

Because of two games in the greater Porto area, Braga are forced to play their return fixture against Rangers on a Wednesday already. To avoid the Champions League matches later in the evening, this game will have to start at 18.00h local time already, at least allowing the Rangers fans to return home to Scotland early.

ZT5051 GLA xxxx-1650 OPO A321 (25/02/20)

LS6039 GLA 0605-0850 OPO B738

LS6041 GLA 0610-0855 OPO B738

LS6040 OPO 2200-0045(+1) GLA B738

LS6042 OPO 2210-0055(+1) GLA B738

ZT5052 OPO 2130-xxxx GLA A321

27 February 2020

FC Basel vs. APOEL Nicosia

For the return leg in Basel, APOEL appears to travel with quite a lot of supporters. This means that some months after Aegean Airlines left the EuroAirport, they will be back with not just one, but actually two A320s at once, both arriving from Larnaca the day before the game:

AEE4090 LCA xxxx-1255 BSL A320 (26/02/20)

AEE4092 LCA xxxx-1305 BSL A320 (26/02/20)

AEE4091 BSL 1030-xxxx LCA A320 (28/02/20)

AEE4093 BSL 1045-xxxx LCA A320 (28/02/20)

United using the Russians again - Europa League Group Stage MD3

First time back in the second tier of European Football this season. For those who follow the Champions League charters too, the reasons may be known, but it is quite simple. Compiling the data takes a lot of time, so please forgive me, if in busy times, I may have to keep this thing on hold.

24 October 2019

Getafe vs. FC Basel

After a win against Krasnodar and a draw away at Trabzonspor, Basel is traveling down to Madrid on the Helvetic EMB-190 again:

OAW1072 ZRH 0830-0915 BSL E190 (23/10/19, ferry flt)

OAW8072 BSL 1000-1210 MAD E190 (23/10/19)

OAW8075 MAD 1400-1605 BSL E190 (25/10/19)

OAW1075 BSL 1650-1720 ZRH E190 (25/10/19, ferry flt)

Partizan Belgrade vs. Manchester United

Manchester United is once again using an Aeroflot A330-300 for the trip to Belgrade this time. Hopes of this turning out to be the SKYTEAM-liveried VQ-BCQ are over though, but VQ-BNS will hopefully do too:

SU7406 SVO xxxx-1300 MAN A333 VQ-BNS (23/10/19, ferry flt)

SU7410 MAN 1430-1825 BEG A333 VQ-BNS (23/10/19)

BSC Young Boys vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam

With Feyenoord, another team is traveling to Bern, but flying to Basel, using a Corendon Dutch Airlines Boeing 737-800

CND9291 RTM 1030-1145 BSL B738 (23/10/19)

CND195P BSL 1230-xxxx BJV B738 (23/10/19, ferry flt)

CND113 AMS 0815-0930 BSL B738 (25/10/19, ferry flt)

CND9292 BSL 1200-xxxx RTM B738 (25/10/19)

FC Porto vs. Rangers FC

LS6964 GLA 1020-1300 OPO B738 (23/10/19)
LS6978 GLA 1025-1310 OPO B738 (23/10/19)
ZT4201 GLA xxxx-1650 OPO B752 (23/10/19)

ZT4202 OPO 2200-xxxx GLA B752
LS6965 OPO 2230-xxxx GLA B738
LS6979 OPO 2240-xxxx GLA B738

Ludogorets Razgrad vs. RCD Espanyol

MLT662 BCN 0930-xxxx VAR B735 (23/10/19)

MLT663 VAR xxxx-0345 BCN B735 (25/10/19)

Sevilla CF vs. F91 Dudelange

KRP3049 LUX xxxx-1250 SVQ F100 (23/10/19)

KRP3050 SVQ 1100-xxxx LUX F100 (25/10/19)

FK Qarabag Agdam vs. APOEL Nicosia

AEE4950 LCA 1000-xxxx GYD A320 (23/10/19)

CSKA Moscow vs. Ferencvaros Budapest

ENT566 BUD 1000-xxxx VKO B738 (23/10/19)

AS Roma vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach

EW5214 DUS xxxx-1305 FCO A320 (23/10/19)

NO4560 DUS xxxx-1030 FCO B738

UEFA EL Qualifiers, Play-Off return leg, 30 August 2018

30 August 2018

Apollon Limassol vs. FC Basel

For the first time, Basel will charter an Air X aircraft to travel abroad. Boeing 737-500 9H-YES will do the job, not its first football assignment and surely not its last:

AXY2803 AMS 1600-1710 BSL B735 9H-YES (28/08/18, ferry flt)
AXY2901 BSL 0800-xxxx LCA B735 9H-YES (29/08/18)
AXY3106 LCA xxxx-1850 BSL B735 9H-YES (31/08/18)

Burnley FC vs. Olympiacos Piraeus

The time difference of two hours back from Piraeus to Burnley leads to an early arrival for Olympiacos. The visitors will look to defend their 3-1 lead from the first leg while Burnley give their best to stay in contention, even if the weekends' performances have tailed off recently, given the double fixtures they currently play every week:

AEE4010 ATH 1815-2020 MAN A320 (28/08/18)

FC Astana vs. APOEL Nicosia

AEE4030 LCA 2200-0500(+1) TSE A320 SX-DGZ (27/08/18)

RB Leipzig vs. Zorya Lugansk

PS3719 KBP xxxx-1325 LEJ E190 (29/08/18)

FC Kopenhagen vs. Atalanta Bergamo

EZE9422 BGY xxxx-1645 CPH (29/08/18)

Shkendija vs. Rosenborg BK

MLT674 TRD xxxx-1445 SKP B735 (29/08/18)
MLT675 SKP 1130-xxxx TRD B735 (31/08/18)

FC Ufa vs. Glasgow Rangers

BRO37P DSA 1030-1115 GLA B733 G-TGPG (29/08/18, ferry flt)
BRO37A GLA 1200-2130 UFA B733 G-TGPG (29/08/18)