Austrian takeover at Anfield - UEFA Europa League Group Stage Round 5 - 30 November 2023

The upcoming 5th round of group stage games will see one of the bigger airlifts in recent times for a game at that stage of the competition. Supports of LASK Linz will travel in large numbers to Anfield Road to see their team play away at Liverpool FC. After Liverpool's away loss in Toulouse, the group is still nicely open for many different outcomes. Yet, Liverpool would have to be favourites over their Austrian counterparts.

Liverpool FC vs. LASK Linz

Two Enter Boeing 737-800s will position from Leipzig (previous UCL duty for RB Leipzig supporters) to Linz early on Wednesday already. Another one of Thursday's aircraft will arrive at Linz on Wednesday in D-ANNA of Sundair, painted in the "Katta macht Urlaub" scheme.

ENT576P LEJ xxxx-0800 B738 (29/11/23, ferry flt)

ENT578P LEJ xxxx-0805 B738 (29/11/23, ferry flt)

HV95 AMS 1035-1210 LNZ B738 PH-HXK (29/11/23, ferry flt)

HV7611 LNZ 1400-1525 LPL B738 PH-HXK (29/11/23)

SR806F KSF 1555-1645 LNZ A320 D-ANNA (29/11/23, ferry flt)

SR8224 LNZ 0540-0700 LPL A320 D-ANNA

ENT583 LNZ 0715-0835 LPL B738 SP-ENQ
ED4402 LNZ 0820-0935 LPL B738 OM-HEX

HV95 AMS 0640-0800 LNZ B738 PH-HXC (ferry flt)
HV7847 LNZ 0900-1015 LPL B738 PH-HXC
ENT561 LNZ 1000-1120 LPL B738 SP-ESI

ED432P BTS 0935-1015 LNZ B738 OM-KEX (ferry flt)
ED4404 LNZ 1100-1220 LPL B738 OM-KEX
TDR9380 LJU 0945-1025 LNZ A320 9A-BTH (ferry flt)

TDR380 LNZ 1145-1310 LPL A320 9A-BTH

QS441 PRG 1040-1130 LNZ B38M OK-SWD (ferry flt)
QS4414 LNZ 1245-1415 LPL B38M OK-SWD

General Aviation:

OE-KAR LNZ 0645-1112 LPL DA42 (30/11/23)

Smartwings Boeing 737-800 OK-TVW seen at Corfu in August 2021.
Two such aircraft will fly from Linz to Liverpool in late November 2023.

Liverpool and LASK are not the only teams battling it out for knock-out spots in spring however. Many other teams are still heavily involved in the competition and there are some interesting charter flights elsewhere too.

Olympique Marseille vs. Ajax Amsterdam

OR9529 AMS 1100-1255 MRS B38M PH-TFN (29/11/23)

OR9530 MRS 1130-xxxx AMS B38M (01/12/23)

Sparta Prague vs. Real Betis Sevilla

PVG1907 SVQ 1000-xxxx PRG B772 (29/11/23)

Sturm Graz vs. Rakow Czestochowa

RR9059 KTW xxxx-1715 GRZ B738 (29/11/23)

Toulouse FC vs. Union St-Gilloise

SN1179 BRU xxxx-1610 TLS (29/11/23)

BK Häcken vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen

KK6110 CGN 1430-1615 GOT A320 D-ANNE (29/11/23)

KK6111 GOT 1100-xxxx CGN A320 (01/12/23)

Molde FK vs. FK Qarabag Agdam

AHY4019 GYD xxxx-1430 MOL (29/11/23)

AHY4020 MOL 0045-xxxx GYD (01/12/23)

Backa Topola vs. West Ham United

BRO868A STN 1500-1820 BEG B733 G-SWRD (29/11/23)

BRO868B BEG 1030-xxxx STN B733 G-SWRD (01/12/23)

SC Freiburg vs. Olympiakos Piraeus

AEE4080 ATH 1015-1215 LHA A320 SX-DVV (29/11/23)

AEE4081 LHA 0005-0335 ATH A320 SX-DVV (01/12/23)

AEK Athens vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

HAT2360 LGW 0930-1515 ATH B734 9H-ZAZ (29/11/23)

HAT2471 ATH 0000-0150 LGW B734 9H-ZAZ (01/12/23)

Maccabi Haifa vs. Stade Rennais (in Budapest)

MLM712 RNS 1515-1720 BUD B735 9H-MAC (29/11/23)

Villarreal CF vs. Panathinaikos Athens

AEE4020 ATH 1000-1215 CDT A320 SX-DVI (29/11/23)

Servette Genève vs. AS Roma

AZ8950 FCO 1700-xxxx GVA (29/11/23)

UEFA Europa League is back - LASK at Manchester United

Yes, the UEFA Europa League is finally back from 5 August, with the Round of 16 getting completed in empty home grounds across Europe. Two ties will be settled in one match after the first legs got called off in March, while six other will continue where the teams left off after the first legs.

5 August 2020

Manchester United vs. LASK Linz

The 2017 champions set a good foundation away in Austria already, beating the Austrian outfit 5-0. They will host LASK at an empty Old Trafford for a return leg that really seems academical in nature. 90 minutes' football have to be played first though and it will be a chance for LASK to shine in an unfamiliar surrounding. LAS will travel to Manchester with Maleth-Aero, most probably their Boeing 737-500 9H-MAC, which sees pretty regular use for sports charters.

MLT552F STN xxxx-1200 LNZ B735 (04/08/20, ferry flt)

MLT552 LNZ 1300-1430 MAN B735 (04/08/20)

MLT553 MAN 1230-1715 LNZ B735 (06/08/20)

MLT553F LNZ 1800-xxxx STN B735 (06/08/20, ferry flt)

9H-MAC, Maleth-Aero, Boeing 737-500
arriving at Basel-Mulhouse with part of the Manchester United entourage in 2018

Inter Milan vs. Getafe (in Gelsenkirchen)

Called off in March, this fixture will be played in one game on a neutral ground, at FC Schalke 04's ground in Gelsenkirchen. Inter has secured second spot in Italy meanwhile, while Getafe has missed out on qualifying for European competition again, finishing on 8th spot in La Liga. Getafe will arrive in Cologne with Privilege Style and one of their two B757s, while Inter will get a lift from Alitalia, flying from Malpensa to Düsseldorf on an A319.

PVG7995 MAD xxxx-1155 CGN B752 (04/08/20)

AZ9018 MXP 1030-1200 DUS A319 (04/08/20)

FC Kopenhagen vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

The newly crowned champions of Turkey will try to defend a slender lead away from home. FCK were on a roll however before the competition got interrupted in March, beating Celtic Glasgow in the first K.O. round.

TK3233 IST 1200-1410 CPH B738 (04/08/20)

TK3234 CPH 1515-1925 IST B738 (04/08/20, ferry flt)

TK3233 IST 0845-1055 CPH B738 (06/08/20, ferry flt)

TK3234 CPH 1200-1610 IST B738 (06/08/20)

Shakhtar Donezk vs. VfL Wolfsburg (in Kyiv)

Shakhtar will host the "Wolves" in Kyiv for a return leg where the latter will not have much to lose. The Ukrainian side won the first leg 2-1 away from home, so the Germans will have half a mountain to climb in their away game.

WL610 BWE xxxx-1525 IEV E190 (04/08/20)

Ajax, Porto and Inter on the road - Europa League 20 February 2020

20 February 2020

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Arsenal

Arsenal travelled to Greece on a widebody plane, Boeing 767-300/ER ZS-NEX, which has seen quite some use on behalf of Premier League teams in the past. The rather private nature of these flights made it difficult to track them however.

ARN219 STN 1421-1916 ATH B763 ZS-NEX (19/02/20)

FC Brugge vs. Manchester United

Manchester United are playing the UEL once again and at least have made it through to the  round of 32 in what otherwise looks like a very difficult season. They face a trip to Belgium, where they will play against FC Brugge:

GDA**** MAN 1000-xxxx OST E190 (19/02/2020)

GDA**** OST xxxx-2215 MAN E190 (20/02/2020)

Info courtesy of AlphaFive from Manchester.

VfL Wolfsburg vs. Malmö FF

Malmö are a team that is capable of anything and for once they made it to the round of 32 in the UEL, where they will face a Wolfsburg team that sits right in the middle of the table in the Bundesliga.

DW769 MMX 1100-xxxx BWE E195 (19/02/20)
DW769 BWE xxxx-0200 MMX E195 (21/02/20)

Shakhtar Donezk vs. SL Benfica

Benfica has a long trip on hand to face Shakhtar at their exile in Kharkov. They will travel there on 18 February 2020 already, with two planes.

MLT892 LIS 1455-xxxx HRK B735 9H-VOX (18/02/20)
PVG7885 LIS 1515-xxxx HRK EC-ISY (18/02/20)

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Espanyol Barcelona

In a clash between two sides not very used to international football, Espanyol will travel to Wolverhampton first up. Espanyol will use a KlasJet B737-500 for this trip. There will be a charter flight for the supporters as well, on a Privilege Style B757-200.

KLJ3270 BCN 1030-xxxx BHX B735 (19/02/20)

PVG1900 BCN 0900-xxxx BHX B752

KLJ3271 BHX xxxx-0245 BCN B735 (21/02/20)

PVG2000 BHX xxxx-0335 BCN B752 (21/02/20)

APOEL Nicosia vs. FC Basel

The Swiss vice-champions are back to European Football in spring and are up for a long trip right away. Helvetic Airways is going to take the team to Larnaca and back with an Embraer EMB-190:

2L1362 ZRH xxxx-0700 BSL E190 (19/02/20, ferry flt)
2L8362 BSL 0800-xxxx LCA E190 (19/02/20)
2L8365 LCA xxxx-1720 BSL E190 (21/02/20)
2L1365 BSL 1820-xxxx ZRH E190 (21/02/20, ferry flt)

Sporting Lisbon vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

A very late goal away at Borussia Mönchengladbach earned Erdogan's young favourite club a spot in the last 16 of the Europa League. Now it seems that they got a little upgrade for their upcoming trip to Lisbon for what will be a true challenge for them.

TK3381 IST 0940-1130 LIS A333 (19/02/20)

TK3382 LIS 1300-2030 IST A333 (21/02/20)

FC Getafe vs. Ajax Amsterdam

The Dutch champions dropped out of the Champions League at a very late stage in the sixth round of the group stage, while Getafe finished the Europa League group stage in second place behind FC Basel. There will be two rather normal charters from Amsterdam to Madrid for this first leg match, with TUI Netherlands and Transavia.

OR7347 AMS xxxx-1535 MAD B738 (19/02/20)

HV6019 AMS xxxx-0930 MAD B738

OR7358 MAD 2300-xxxx(+1) AMS B738

HV6020 MAD 0000-xxxx AMS B738 (21/02/20)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. FC Porto

This 19 February 2020 will be special in Porto, for there will be two HiFly A340s taking football teams to different destinations. One of them will fly to Cologne, right next to Leverkusen, where FC Porto will face Bayer Leverkusen. 

HFM631 OPO 0945-1315 CGN A343 (19/02/20)

HFM652 CGN 0150-0320 OPO A343 (21/02/20)

CFR Cluj vs. Sevilla CF

Sevilla has enjoyed a lot of success in past seasons in the Europa League, notably winning the trophy three times from 2014 to 2016. Their knock-out journey will start a long way from home, with a trip to Cluj.

ZT5071 SVQ 0900-xxxx CLJ A321 (19/02/20)

ZT5072 CLJ xxxx-1230 SVQ A321 (21/02/20)

AZ Alkmaar vs. LASK Linz

Currently Austria's next best team, LASK have earned themselves a trip to the Netherlands to face Alkmaar. LASK's European journey this season is quite long already, having played a number of rounds in the Champions League qualifiers in summer last year.

VK111P VIE 1130-1210 LNZ A320 (Ferry flt)

VK4444 LNZ 1300-1430 AMS A320

VK4445 AMS 1210-1340 LNZ A320

VK122P LNZ 1430-1510 VIE A320 (ferry flt)

Ludogorets Razgrad vs. Inter Milan

Inter are chasing after Juventus domestically, but still present in European competition as well. They will visit Ludogorets, who like many other times in recent years are the only competitive outfit from Bulgaria:

AZ9018 MXP xxxx-1710 VAR (19/02/20)

AZ9019 VAR 1100-xxxx MXP (21/02/20)

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. FC Salzburg

Seemingly overtaken by their "in-house" competition from Leipzig, Salzburg made it to the Champions League for the first time ever this season. They are back into their more familiar territory of the Europa League now, up for a trip to Frankfurt with Condor.

DE9336T FRA xxxx-1310 SZG A320 (19/02/20)

DE9337 SZG 1400-xxxx FRA A320 (19/02/20)

DE9336 FRA xxxx-1215 SZG A320 (21/02/20)

DE9337F SZG 1305-xxxx FRA A320 (21/02/20)

FC Kopenhagen vs. Celtic Glasgow

Celtic is known for a big traveling fan base and their tie in the round of 32 against Copenhagen looks nicely poised. One thing that seems certain is that there will be plenty of atmosphere at the Parken, as always when Copenhagen plays at home.

ENT561 GLA xxxx-1230 CPH B738 (19/02/20)
LS6035 GLA xxxx-1750 CPH B738 (19/02/20)

Glasgow Rangers vs. SC Braga

The other A340 of HiFly to leave Porto on 19 February 2020 will go to Glasgow, where SC Braga will face Rangers FC at Ibrox Park. Rangers have had some troubles in recent years, but they are firmly back on the European stage now.

HFM731 OPO 1030-xxxx GLA A332 CS-TQP (19/02/20)

HFM752 GLA xxxx-1630 OPO A332 CS-TQP (21/02/20)