27 August 2014
Malmö FF vs. FC Salzburg
The current season (2019-20) has been the first time, FC Salzburg (domestically known under some brand name) managed to qualify for the main stage of the UEFA Champions League, while in years gone by, they had made a name for themselves as the one club always to miss out in the playoff stage at the latest. The famous loss away at F91 Dudelange in 2012 did not leave too many marks in aviation, but a couple of years later, they looked hopeful at least to finally make that final step up into the Champions League. FK Qarabag Agdam from Azerbaijan was dispatched in the third round and Salzburg had won the first leg against Malmö FF. The main sponsor decided it was time to give the team's supporters some wings and organised a handful of charter flights up North.
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| A Niki Airbus A320 taking off from Salzburg in December 2013. One such aircraft was involved in the Malmö airlift in August 2014. |
We start with the team that as usual departed Salzburg one day before the game, on an Airbus A321 of Niki. On the match day proper, another four planes followed, one A321 (might have been the same as for the team actually), one A320, plus two of the Embraer EMB-190s that later ended up in the hands of Helvetic Airways.
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| Niki operated a fleet of up to seven Embraer EMB-190 jets from 2009 on. The entire sub-fleet moved on to Helvetic Airways in 2014/2015. |
What was meant to be a great away night and the start of bigger things to come ended in disaster. Salzburg had a nightmare of a game, or to put it the other way, Marcus Rosenberg and Malmö FF had other ideas. Malmö won 3-0, proceeded to the Champions League group stage, where they managed to win only one match against Olympiacos. Salzburg's main sponsor went on to buy one Malmö's most influential players in Emil Forsberg and placed him at their Leipzig branch, where he has been playing his club football since.
