Lift-Off for the new Europa League - League Phase MD1 25 September 2024

Just like the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League this year kicks off with an exclusive week and matches played over two days rather than all on one day. A total of 36 teams qualified for the league phased that has the same structure as in the Champions League. Compared to previous years, no teams parachute from one competition to another once the season proper has started. This also means that the winners of the previous year's UEFA Europa League (Atalanta Bergamo in this case) will not have the chance to defend their title. All in all, the new format should provide exciting fixtures however, even if the league phase has been extended by two games compared to the "old" group stage.

25 September 2024

Bodø/Glimt vs. FC Porto

18.45h, Aspmyra Stadium, Bodø

Having only finished 3rd in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, FC Porto face a trip up to the North where they face Bodø/Glimt in the first round of the league phase. For the 4,5h flight from Porto do Bodø, the team uses widebody equipment in form of a EuroAtlantic Airways Boeing 777-200/ER.

YU709P LIS 0950-1040 OPO B772 CS-TSX (24/09/24, ferry flight)

YU1893 OPO 1510-2030 BOO B772 CS-TSX (24/09/24)

YU1893 BOO 1200-1530 OPO B772 CS-TSX (26/09/24)

AZ Alkmaar vs. Elfsborg

18.45h, AZ Stadion, Alkmaar

Two of the smaller teams in the competition face off in the first round. It is no big surprise that the charter flight for Elfsborg is also a rather small one - Frost Air with one of their Saab 2000 aircraft.

FRO81 GOT 1500-1630 AMS SB20 OY-FSD (24/09/24)

Manchester United vs. Twente Enschede

21.00h (20.00h local time), Old Trafford, Manchester

The UEFA Europa League may not be Manchester United's aim in terms of European football. But in years of lesser success, they have to make do with opponents like Twente Enschede rather than the big clubs that play in the Champions League. Both the Twente FC team and a group of supporters will first head to Germany, where the flights depart from Münster-Osnabrück to Manchester.

EZE959 HUY 0700-0905 FMO E170 G-CMLI (24/09/24, ferry flight)

EZE9599 FMO 1100-1130 MAN E170 G-CMLI (24/09/24)

FRO903 HAM 0930-1010 FMO SB20 OY-FSB (24/09/24, ferry flight)

FRO003 FMO xxxx-1135 MAN SB20 (25/09/24)

EZE9600 MAN 1400-xxxx FMO E170 (26/09/24)

FRO004 MAN 1400-xxxx FMO SB20 (26/09/24)

G-CMPI, Eastern Airways, EMB-170

seen at Luton in May 2024

OGC Nice vs. Real Sociedad San Sebastian

21.00h, Allianz Riviera, Nice

This season's Spanish representatives in the UEFA Europa League are exclusively from the Basque country. Real Sociedad qualified for the secondary European Cup by virtue of finishing 6th in La Liga. Their opponents away at first are OGC Nice, 5th of the French Ligue 1 in the 2023-24 season. The travel arrangements include the typical late night return to Vitoria instead of the departure port, owing to night flight restrictions at San Sebastian Donostia airport. And not just this - the outbound flight departs from nearby Pamplona as well.

ENT555 PNA xxxx-1240 NCE B738 (24/09/24)

ENT558 NCE 0115-xxxx VIT B738 (26/09/24)

Ludogorets Razgrad vs. Sparta Prague

21.00h (22.00h local time), Huvepharma Arena, Razgrad

For Bulgarian champions Ludogorets, it will be two Czech opponents in as many weeks, starting with Sparta Prague who also started their international campaign in the UEFA Champions League qualifier rounds. For the two-hour trip to Bulgaria, Sparta will once again count on the services of Smartwings and one of their Boeing 737-800s - regular guests to Varna on charter flights as well.

Update: Smartwings sent A320 ZS-GAC, on lease from Global Aviation in South Africa for this job.

QS4344 PRG 1530-1835 VAR A320 ZS-GAC (23/09/24)

QS4345 VAR 1400-1510 PRG B738 (26/09/24)

Dynamo Kyiv vs. SS Lazio Rome

21.00h, Volkspark, Hamburg

Dynamo Kyiv are forced to play their home matches in exile and will do so in Hamburg. First up, they will host Lazio, who will arrive from Rome with Aeroitalia. At the same time, Dynamo Kyiv will also arrive in Hamburg by plane, using LOT for the trip over from Lublin.

LO7237 LUZ 1100-1250 HAM E75S SP-LIK (24/09/24)

LO7236 HAM 1340-1505 WAW E75S SP-LIL (24/09/24, ferry flight)

XZ8822 FCO 1545-1815 HAM B738 9H-GAE (24/09/24)

XZ8823 HAM 1030-xxxx FCO B738 (26/09/24)

LO7283 HAM 1700-xxxx LUZ (26/09/24)

Galatasaray Istanbul vs. PAOK Saloniki

21.00h (22.00h local time), Rams Park (Ali Sami Yen), Istanbul

It is a short trip and a late departure for PAOK on the way over to Istanbul. Aegean Airlines will do the job with one of their Airbus A320s.

AEE4190 SKG 1730-1830 IST A320 SX-DVV (24/09/24)

AEE6192 IST 1930-2045 SKG A320 SX-DVV (24/09/24, ferry flight)

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)

UEFA Europa League Group Stage MD6 - 14 December 2023

West Ham United vs. SC Freiburg

With both teams certain to feature in the knock-out stages, this match is a straight shoot-out for the first and second positions in the group. Freiburg will travel some good support as well. Flights will be from nearby Lahr, a former Canadian airbase, as well as Basel-Mulhouse.

SR802 ZAG xxxx-1000 BSL A320 (13/12/23, ferry flt)

SR8032 BSL 1100-1135 STN A320 (13/12/23)

AX130H LHA xxxx-1645 STN DH8D (13/12/23)

AX150H STN 1200-xxxx STN DH8D (15/12/23)

SR8033 STN 1530-1805 BSL A320 (15/12/23)

SR803 BSL 1900-xxxx ZAG A320 (15/12/23, ferry flt)

Ajax Amsterdam vs. AEK Athens

Rather surprisingly, Ajax find themselves at the bottom of this group. Yet they still stand a chance of at least making it into the Conference League knock-out matches with a win against AEK. The visitors will arrive from Athens with an Aegean Airbus A321.

AEE4084 ATH xxxx-1330 AMS A321 (13/12/23)

AEE4085 AMS 1455-xxxx ATH A321 (15/12/23)

Real Betis Sevilla vs. Glasgow Rangers

The most travelling fans this week are expected in Sevilla for the game between Betis and Rangers. Both teams need points from this game to make sure they remain in the UEL over the winter break. A loss - and the Conference League would be the prospect, depending on the other result in the group.

LS6643 GLA xxxx-1345 SVQ B738 (13/12/23)

ZT5401 GLA xxxx-1820 SVQ (13/12/23)

ENT533 GLA xxxx-1125 SVQ B738 (14/12/23)

LS6628 GLA xxxx-1155 SVQ B738 (14/12/23)

ENT534 SVQ 0100-xxxx GLA B738 (15/12/23)

ZT5402 SVQ 1330-xxxx GLA (15/12/23)

LS6644 SVQ 1400-xxxx GLA (15/12/23)

LS6629 SVQ 1430-xxxx GLA (15/12/23)

A Jet2 Boeing 737-800 seen at Manchester in September 2022

LASK Linz vs. Toulouse FC

Toulouse will look to defend their second place in the group with at least a draw away in Austria. LASK on their side will want to win this match to secure a UEFA Europa Conference League ticket for the spring part of the season.

VLJ129G TLS 1535-1730 LNZ E145 (13/12/23)

VLJ129G LNZ 2225-0020(+1) TLS E145 (14/12/23)

Sporting CP vs. SK Sturm Graz

Sturm Graz needs a result away at Sporting to survive in European competition over the winter break. Whether they will come away with enough points away at Sporting remains doubtful though.

ED3510 GRZ 1130-xxxx LIS B738 (13/12/23)

FK Qarabag Agdam vs. BK Häcken

It is a long away trip for the Swedish champions, all the way to Baku. Only Qarabag have anything to play for though. Häcken are already eliminated with no points from the previous five matches in the group.

ED9940 GOT 0900-xxxx GYD B738 (12/12/23)

Union St-Gilloise vs. Liverpool FC

The visitors from England will call upon BA CityFlyer to take them to Brussels for the final game of this group stage.

BA7031 LCY 0935-1025 LPL 1230-1440 BRU E190 G-LCAB (13/12/23)

BA7032 BRU 1535-1525 LCY E190 G-LCAB (13/12/23, ferry flt)

UEFA Europa Conference League Group Stage MD5 - 30 November 2023

The third-tier competition of the UEFA club competitions sees some interesting match-ups on match day 5. Some of those could decide about knock-out qualification for 2024. And some teams will have to travel into very cold areas of Europe in late November too.

KI Klaksvik vs. Slovan Bratislava

The Slovak outfit has to travel up North to the Faroe Islands for their 5th group stage game. Klaksvik however still stand a chance of qualifying for the next round with 4 points from just as many games so far. Because of the lengthy trip, Slovan will travel one day earlier than usual.

ED4520 BTS xxxx-1435 FAE B738 (28/11/23)

ED4521 FAE 0850-xxxx BTS B738 (01/12/23)

Breidablik vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv

It is a long trip from Israel all the way to Iceland. In fact, the Airbus A321neo even requires a fuel stop en-route westbound, in Belgrade, to make it to the destination. The return flight will be non-stop from Keflavik to Tel Aviv however. Maccabi are sitting pretty in this group though, with 9 points from 4 games. Breidablik are already eliminated with no points at all.

IZ561 TLV 1220-1430 BEG 1600-2000 KEF A21N (28/11/23)

IZ562 KEF 0200-xxxx TLV A21N (01/12/23)

FC Astana vs. Dinamo Zagreb

The Croatian champions are off on a long trip to the East. They fly non-stop to Kazakhstan with 2Excel Aviation and their Boeing 737-700 G-NEWG.

BRO883A ZAG 1230-2300 NQZ B737 G-NEWG (28/11/23)

Bodø/Glimt vs. FC Lugano

Before Lugano fly North, they will travel slightly South from their nice location in the South of Switzerland. They will cross the border to Italy to take their Carpatair charter flight all the way up to Bodø.

KRP2211 MXP 0900-1300 BOO A319 YR-ABB (29/11/23)

KRP2212 BOO 2230-0215(+1) MXP A319 YR-ABB (30/11/23)

Olimpija Ljubljana vs. Lille OSC

ATV292H LIL 1630-1805 LJU DH8D (29/11/23)

Besiktas Istanbul vs. Club Brugge

TB9655 OST 1000-1540 IST B738 OO-JBG (29/11/23)

AZ Alkmaar vs. Zrijnski Mostar

KRP268 PMO 0740-0900 OMO A319 YR-ABA (29/11/23, ferry flt)

KRP268 OMO 1000-1235 AMS A319 YR-ABA (29/11/23)

Aston Villa vs. Legia Warsaw

LO7529 WAW 1020-1200 BHX E195 SP-LNO (29/11/23)

ACF Fiorentina vs. KRC Genk

ATV291H LGG 1030-1215 FLR DH8D D-AASG (29/11/23)

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. PAOK Saloniki

AEE4190 SKG xxxx-1925 FRA A320 (29/11/23)

AEE4191 FRA 1055-xxxx SKG A320 (01/12/23)

Nordsjelland vs. Fenerbahçe

FH1907 IST xxxx-1340 CPH A320 (29/11/23)

Spartak Trnava vs. Ludogorets Razgrad

LB5437 VAR 1010-1055 BTS A320 LZ-FBH (29/11/23)

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)

2021 UEFA Europa League Final - Villarreal vs. Manchester United

26 May 2021

Villarreal CF vs. Manchester United (in Gdansk)

As the season in most European leagues has come to a close, the European cup finals are yet to be played. Gdansk was planned to host the Europa League final in 2020, but as we all know, this could not happen. Instead, the city in Northwestern Poland is now hosting this year's final, contested between Villarreal and Manchester United.

In the semifinals, Manchester United had beaten AS Roma in two spectacular games with an aggregate score of 8 goals to 5. Villarreal are playing in their first ever European final after beating Arsenal 2-1 at home and holding out for a goalless draw away in London.

SU7400 SVO 1300-1500 MAN A333 VP-BDE (24/05/21)

SU7402 MAN 1800-2125 GDN A333 VP-BDE (24/05/21)

ENT588 VLC 0930-1300 GDN B738 (25/05/21)

UX951 CDT xxxx-1320 GDN (25/05/21)

UX812 VLC 1030-1350 GDN B789 (25/05/21)

IB2882 VLC 1030-1410 GDN A321 (25/05/21)

IBS9995 VLC 1100-1430 GDN A320 (25/05/21)

LS6180 STN xxxx-0930 GDN

LS6204 MAN xxxx-0930 GDN

LS6216 MAN xxxx-0945 GDN

LS6192 MAN xxxx-1000 GDN

IBS9991 VLC 0700-1030 GDN A320

UX548 VLC 0700-1030 GDN B788

UX636 VLC 0720-1050 GDN B738

UX724 CDT xxxx-1100 GDN

ZT9981 MAN xxxx-1130 GDN A321

EVE637 VLC 0830-1200 GDN A333

Air Europa Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner EC-MMY seen at Madrid in March 2020

SU7403 GDN 0215-0340 MAN A333 VP-BDE (27/05/21)

SU7401 MAN 0440-1040 SVO A333 VP-BDE (27/05/21)

UX637 GDN xxxx-0510 VLC

ENT559 GDN xxxx-0525 VLC B738

UX725 GDN xxxx-0530 VLC B738

IBS9996 GDN xxxx-0530 VLC A320

UX813 GDN xxxx-0550 VLC B789

UX549 GDN xxxx-0550 VLC B788

IB2883 GDN xxxx-0630 VLC A321

IB9992 GDN xxxx-0630 VLC A320

EVE638 GDN xxxx-0645 VLC A333