UEFA Champions League Group Stage MD6 - 13 December 2023

The final match day of the 2023 Champions League group stage will see two more spots in the round of 16 up for grabs, as well as two spots in the Europa League knock-out play-off round. Six out of eight knock-out participants from this half of the draw are already known. Manchester City are even already confirmed as the winners of their group.

Atlético Madrid vs. Lazio Roma

Both teams are already through to the round of 16, with just the seedings to be confirmed. Atlético take a slight advantage into the match, leading the group with 11 points, ahead of Lazio with 10. Lazio will travel to Madrid with AeroItalia.

AEZ8862 FCO xxxx-1800 MAD B738 (12/12/23)

AEZ8863 MAD 1200-xxxx FCO B738 (14/12/23)

Borussia Dortmund vs. Paris St-Germain

In a tight group, BVB have confirmed their spot in the round of 16 already. They will host a PSG team that has slightly disappointed so far and only still stands a chance of the top spot due to a late VAR penalty call against Newcastle United in their previous game. Just how PSG will arrive in Dortmund is not clear yet. But they will depart in the late hours from Paderborn-Lippstadt, using a KlasJet Boeing 737-300.

EDIT: The KlasJet aircraft will arrive in Dortmund on Tuesday, but will then swiftly get ferried over to Paderborn-Lippstadt.

AXE8138 CDG xxxx-1155 DTM B738 (12/12/23)

KLJ9763 CDG xxxx-1210 DTM B733 (12/12/23)

KLJ9765 DTM 1255-xxxx PAD B733 (12/12/23, ferry flt)

AEH281 LBG xxxx-1805 DTM E145 (12/12/23)

KLJ9764 PAD 0345-0530 CDG B733 (14/12/23)

Royal Antwerp vs. FC Barcelona

Hosts Antwerp may already be out of the competition, but they will still look to have a great night against one of the heavyweights of past seasons. Barcelona will not arrive directly in Antwerp, but will fly from Barcelona to Brussels with Privilege Style.

PVG1899 BCN 0955-xxxx BRU (12/12/23)

Privilege Style A321 EC-NLJ seen at Copenhagen in July 2022

RB Leipzig vs. BSC Young Boys

2L6416 BRN 1100-1230 LEJ E290 (12/12/23)

2L6417 LEJ 1200-1330 BRN E290 (14/12/23)

Red Star Belgrade vs. Manchester City

AGR1722 MAN 1000-1355 BEG E135 PH-DWC (12/12/23)

HAT4262 LPL 1400-1810 BEG B734 9H-GTC (12/12/23)

BRO869A MAN 1500-1850 BEG B737 G-NEWG (12/12/23)

Newcastle United vs. AC Milan

NO9345 MXP 1630-1745 NCL B738 (12/12/23)

FC Porto vs. Shakhtar Donezk

PQ2153 RZE 1730-2030 OPO B738 UR-SQG (12/12/23)

UEFA Champions League Group Stage MD6 - 12 December 2023

Manchester United vs. FC Bayern München

United require a win and probably some extra luck if they want to proceed to the knock-out stage. But with the run of results in this group stage, proceeding towards the Europa League is probably the best they can hope for. Bayern München have qualified top of the group already and yet cause a nice amount of extra traffic between MUC and MAN.

EN5002 MUC 0940-1055 MAN E195 I-ADJX (11/12/23)

DE9150 MUC 1200-1315 MAN B753 D-ABOM (11/12/23)

X38978 MUC 0800-0900 MAN B38M D-AMAH (12/12/23)

X38979 MAN 0305-0605 MUC B38M D-AMAH (13/12/23)

DE9151 MAN 1030-1330 MUC B753 (13/12/23)

EN5003 MAN 1130-1430 MUC E195 (13/12/23)

Air Dolomiti EMB-195 I-ADJK seen at Frankfurt in August 2023

FC Kobenhavn vs. Galatasaray

It is almost a straight shootout between Kobehavn and Galatasaray for the second spot in this group. In case of a draw, Kobenhavn remain in front. But in this case, a win for Manchester United in the other game could lead to both teams leaving the Champions League after the group stage. Galatasaray will travel by Turkish A330-300 just as for the two previous away fixtures.

TK3235 IST 1600-1720 CPH A333 (11/12/23)

TK3236 CPH 0105-0600 IST A333 (13/12/23)

RC Lens vs. Sevilla CF

Both teams are eliminated from the Champions League already. The Europa League knock-out play-off spot is still up for grabs between Lens and Sevilla however. The visitors need a simple win to clinch this spot and make it through to the UEL once again to defend the title that brought them into the Champions League.

PVG1890 SVQ 1000-1210 LIL A321 EC-OCT (11/12/23)

PVG1990 LIL xxxx-0150(+1) SVQ (12/12/23)

PSV Eindhoven vs. Arsenal

There is literally nothing at stake between PSV and Arsenal, with both team through to the round of 16 already. Arsenal will travel to the Netherlands with Titan Airways, late on Monday afternoon.

ZT5381 LTN 1615-1830 EIN A321 G-POWN (11/12/23)

Union Berlin vs. Real Madrid

Hosts Union Berlin still stand a chance of making it to the Europa League knock-out stage. For this, they are dependent on the result of the other game in the group however. Real Madrid are already assured of the top spot in this group and might look to rest a few key players. They will arrive in Berlin as usual, using an Iberia Airbus A321.

IB2800 MAD 0925-1230 BER A321 EC-JZM (11/12/23)

IB2803 BER 1000-1315 MAD A321 EC-JZM (13/12/23)

SSC Napoli vs. SC Braga

The visitors from the North of Portugal still have a slight chance to win promotion into the round of 16. They will have to beat Napoli away in Italy however, which is definitely not an easy task. Two aircraft will take the senior team and the Youth League team from Porto to Napoli.

MLM712 OPO 1000-1315 NAP B735 9H-MAC (11/12/23)

PVG1921 OPO 1000-1345 NAP A320 EI-HJB (11/12/23)

FC Salzburg vs. SL Benfica

HFM611 LIS 0955-1350 SZG A343 9H-SOL (11/12/23)

HFM612 SZG 1100-xxxx LIS A343 (13/12/23)

AC Milan vs. Real Sociedad

The Basque club travels from Pamplona apparently, flying to Malpensa with AlbaStar.

AP1243 PNA 1030-1225 MXP B738 EC-NGC (11/12/23)

UEFA Champions League Group Stage MD5 - 29 November 2023

FC Bayern München vs. FC Kopenhagen

There is still everything up for grabs for the Danish visitors. Expecting them to win away in Munich might be a tough ask. But in the quest for a spot in the round of 16, FCK will look to do an inside job at the Allianz Arena. Bayern on the other hand are already confirmed as group winners and might want to rest some key players in a busy period ahead of the short winter break.

ENT537 CPH 0900-1035 MUC B738 (28/11/23)

RC9450 BLL 1310-1350 RKE A20N OY-RCL (28/11/23, ferry flt)

RC7450 RKE 1530-1655 MUC A20N OY-RCL (28/11/23)

DK9030 CPH 0900-1035 MUC A332 OY-VKF (29/11/23)

DK9031 MUC 0045-0220 CPH A332 OY-VKF (30/11/23)

ENT538 MUC xxxx-1340 CPH B738 (30/11/23)

Sunclass Airways A330-243 OY-VKF seen at Gran Canaria in 2021

Galatasaray Istanbul vs. Manchester United

Man United have had a campaign to forget so far. They will look to get back on track in the hostile atmosphere of Galatasaray. Many teams have suffered there before and Manchester United will have to dig deep to come up as winners against the Turkish champions.

TK3270 IST 0950-1100 MAN A333 TC-LOB (28/11/23, ferry flt)

TK3271 MAN 1400-2050 IST A333 TC-LOB (28/11/23)

TK3272 IST 0130-0240 MAN A333 TC-LOE (30/11/23)

Sevilla CF vs. PSV Eindhoven

Group B is still very open and PSV need to make sure to get a positive result away in Sevilla. They will come up against a side that is in trouble in their league. But European Cup nights have always brought out the best in Sevilla, no matter what the league situation was.

CND1913 EIN xxxx-1240 SVQ B738 (28/11/23)

CND040 EIN xxxx-1245 SVQ B738 (28/11/23)

CND040 SVO 1100-xxxx EIN B738 (30/11/23)

Real Sociedad San Sebastian vs. FC Salzburg

Together with Inter, Real Sociedad have already qualified for the knock-out stages in spring. On the other hand, Salzburg will be keen to keep the third spot to access the Europa League in 2024. With Youth League obligations and some supporters traveling as well, there will be three flights from Salzburg to the Basque Country. The team will fly to Biarritz while the supporters will land in Bilbao.

KK6114 SZG 1300-1520 BIQ A320 D-ANDI (28/11/23)

KK6116 SZG 1310-1530 BIQ A320 D-ANNE (28/11/23)

QS4447 SZG 0800-xxxx BIO B38M (29/11/23)

QS4448 BIO xxxx-1310 SZG B38M (30/11/23)

KK6115 BIQ xxxx-1650 SZG A320 (30/11/23)

KK6117 BIQ xxxx-1700 SZG A320 (30/11/23)

Real Madrid vs. SSC Napoli

Napoli are looking for points to follow Real Madrid into the round of 16. Just a draw might already be enough for the Italians though, depending on the outcome of the other game in this group on the same night. Real could use a draw to just seal the top spot in the group.

AZ9016 NAP xxxx-1835 MAD A320 (28/11/23)

AZ9017 MAD 0130-xxxx NAP A320 (30/11/23)

SC Braga vs. Union Berlin

While the league season seems to go really badly, Union Berlin fans are at least enjoying themselves in big numbers on European Cup nights. The team will travel to Portugal with Sundair while the fans have flights with Transavia and Sundair on match day.

SR8358 BER 1550-xxxx OPO A320 9A-SHO (28/11/23)

HV7261 BER 0800-xxxx OPO B738 (29/11/23)

SR8354 BER 0800-xxxx OPO A319 

SL Benfica vs. Inter Milan

Benfica will look to save their international season with a home win over already-qualified Inter. Whether the Italians will take the game easily enough however cannot be told in advance. They have the group win and easier opposition in spring to play for.

NO9001 MXP 1625-1810 LIS B738 (28/11/23)

UEFA Champions League Group Stage MD5 - 28 November 2023

Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League group stage will surely see more teams qualifying for the knock-out stage next year. With Leipzig playing away at Manchester City and Newcastle United traveling to Paris, there are also some interesting match-ups that should see some traveling supporters as well as just the team flights.

Feyenoord Rotterdam vs. Atlético Madrid

There is all to play for in this pool, with Atlético leading the group ahead of Lazio and Feyenoord. A win in Rotterdam should mean that Atlético will make it to the round of 16. Depending on the result in the other match, they might even make sure to win the group. As usual, they will travel from Madrid with Privilege Style.

PVG1903 MAD 1030-1310 RTM A321 EC-NLJ (27/11/23)
PVG2003 RTM xxxx-1145 MAD A321 (29/11/23)

FC Barcelona vs. FC Porto

Porto and Barça are leading this pool with nine points apiece. Whoever wins this match should top the group at the end of the group stage. For this short trip across the Iberian peninsula, Porto will make use of HiFly.

HFM611 OPO 1600-1840 BCN A343 9H-SOL (27/11/23)

HFM632 BCN 0200-xxxx OPO (29/11/23)

Paris St-Germain vs. Newcastle United

Having beaten PSG heavily at home, NUFC will look to take the same show on the road. The Parc des Princes will await them, with its usual feisty atmosphere. Some Newcastle supporters will travel to Paris however, using a Jet2 Boeing 737-800 from Newcastle to Paris-CDG. A team flight will probably be announced closer to the actual fixture.

ZT491 NCL 1030-1250 CDG A321 G-POWN (27/11/23)

BRO872A NCL 1330-1555 CDG B733 G-SWRD (27/11/23)

AF1159 NCL 0840-1125 CDG A321 F-GTAZ (28/11/23, extra flt)

LS6612 NCL 0920-1135 CDG B738 G-DRTF (28/11/23)

LS6613 CDG 1330-1345 NCL B738 (29/11/23)

Manchester City vs. RB Leipzig

Both teams have already qualified for the knockout stage and Manchester City could ensure the group win already with just one point. A load of German supporters will travel on match day with Enter Air, using two Boeing 737-800s.

PVG3191 LEJ 1630-1740 MAN A321 EC-OCT (27/11/23)

ENT577 LEJ 1000-1045 MAN B738 SP-ENQ (28/11/23)

ENT575 LEJ 1005-1115 MAN B738 SP-ESI (28/11/23)

ENT576 MAN 0330-0625 LEJ B738 SP-ESI (29/11/23)

ENT578 MAN 0330-0625 LEJ B738 SP-ENQ (29/11/23)

PVG3192 MAN 0900-xxxx LEJ A321 EC-OCT (29/11/23)

BSC Young Boys vs. Red Star Belgrade

Red Star managed no goals at home and will hope to score some away in Berne. For both teams, the Europa League spot in the group is still up for grabs. They have no more higher ambitions however. Red Star will travel to Basel and proceed to Berne by ground transport.

JU9020 BEG 1000-1235 BSL A320 YU-APS (27/11/23)

JU9021 BSL 1320-xxxx BEG A320 YU-APS (27/11/23, ferry flt)

JU9022 BEG xxxx-1145 BSL A320 (29/11/23, ferry flt)

JU9023 BSL 1230-xxxx BEG A320 (29/11/23)

Air Serbia Airbus A320 seen at Zurich in 2014

AC Milan vs. Borussia Dortmund

As usual since a number of years, Borussia Dortmund will travel with Eurowings. One of the two aircraft to be in action for them will be D-AEWM in the special design for the club.

EW1909 DTM 1115-1255 MXP A320 D-AEWM (28/11/23)

EW5201 DTM 1200-1340 MXP A320 D-AEWW (28/11/23)

EW5201 MXP 1130-1310 DTM A320 (30/11/23)

EW1909 MXP 1130-1310 DTM A320 D-AEWM (30/11/23)

Lazio Rome vs. Celtic Glasgow

Rome is a popular destination for any sports team in winter. Therefore it is probably no surprise that a number of spectators will travel with Jet2 from Glasgow to Rome and back.

LS103 GLA 0745-1155 FCO B738 G-JZHW (27/11/23, extra flt)

LS6639 GLA 0930-xxxx FCO B738 G-GDFZ (27/11/23)

LS6647 GLA 1300-1700 FCO B738 G-JZHE (27/11/23)

HT2184 GLA 1400-1745 FCO B734 9H-ZAZ (27/11/23)

LS6624 GLA 0630-1035 FCO B738 G-JZHF (28/11/23)

HT2285 FCO 2330-0155(+1) GLA B734 9H-ZAZ (28/11/23)

LS6625 FCO 0030-0245 GLA B738 G-JZHF (29/11/23)

LS6648 FCO 1300-xxxx GLA B738 (29/11/23)

LS6640 FCO 1400-xxxx GLA B738 (29/11/23)

Shakhtar Donezk vs. Royal Antwerp (in Hamburg)

The Ukrainian club has been forced into exile in Germany. This is why the trip for Royal Antwerp leads to Hamburg instead of the East. Shakhtar for their part arrived with their purposefully painted Boeing 737-700 UR-SQE from Rzeszow in Poland.

U52153 RZE 1800-1955 HAM B737 UR-SQE (26/11/23)

TB965F BRU 1055-1145 ANR B738 OO-TUV (27/11/23, ferry flt)

TB9655 ANR 1230-1400 HAM B738 OO-TUV (27/11/23)

TB9656 HAM 1130-1305 ANR B738 (29/11/23)

Champions Hockey League R16 return leg - 21 November 2023

For the return legs of the round of 16 pairings, another few interesting flights happened across Europe. Time to look into the details of those ties and of course the travel arrangements. Notably the rather small airport of Ostrava in the Czech Republic saw some good action once more, with two of the competing teams coming from the closer surrounding area.

Vitkovice Ridera vs. Lahti Pelicans

The Pelicans are seemingly on a mission to nowhere, having been defaulted 0-3 in the first leg due to a bad ice surface back home in Finland. Just like their opponents last week, they counted on Buzz, the Polish branch of Ryanair, to take them South to Ostrava, just a few kilometers away from Vitkovice.

RR9095 HEL 1030-1120 OSR B738 SP-RKW
RR9096 OSR 2330-0240(+1) HEL B738 SP-RKW

A Buzz (Ryanair Sun) Boeing 737-800 seen at Corfu in June 2023

Skellefteå AIK vs. Ocelari Trinec

The Czech visitors take a 4-3 lead to the far North and will look to defend this there. For their trip, one of only two Boeing 737-700s in the fleet of Smartwings was ferried from Prague to Ostrava.

QS4382 OSR 1030-1325 SFT B737 OK-SWW (20/11/23)
QS4383 SFT 2235-0125(+1) OSR B737 OK-SWW

Färjestad Karlstad vs. EHC Biel-Bienne

Just like Färjestad used a turboprop plane last week to get to Basel, Biel-Bienne uses a Saab 2000 to fly from Berne to Karlstad. Notably, the Saab is way faster than the ATR-72, making the trip in roughly under two and a half hours.

OJ720 BRN 1115-1355 KSD SB20 ES-NSF (20/11/23)
OJ721 KSD 0900-1120 BRN SB20 ES-NSF (22/11/23)

Champions Hockey League R16 1st leg - 14 November 2023

The IIHF's Champions Hockey League goes into its knock-out phase with the round of 16 taking place over two weeks. In home and away matches, the remaining 16 teams will decide about who will continue in the quarter-finals. From the travel perspective, there were some nice turboprop journeys as well as other teams using LCCs for their away trips.

Lahti Pelicans vs. Vitkovice Ridera

The visitors from the Czech Republic only had to play part of the game before being awarded a 3-0 forfeit win by the league organisation. The ice surface at the Pelicans' arena had deteriorated beyond immediate repair and therefore the game had to be abandoned. A "cheap" win for the Ridera from Vitkovice, who travelled to Finland with Ryanair of all airlines:

RR9091 KTW 1400-1700 HEL B738 SP-RSY (13/11/23)
RR9020 HEL 2350-0045(+1) KTW B738 SP-RSY (14/11/23)

Ocelari Trinec vs. Skellefteå AIK

One of the teams to travel by turboprop plane was Skellefteå from Sweden. They used a good old Amapola (nowadays branded as populAir) Fokker 50 all the away to the Czech Republic, where they met Ocelari Trinec. The flight time from Skellefteå to Ostrava was no less than 3 hours and 45 minutes.

HP5171 SFT 1400-1745 OSR FK50 SE-LIO (13/11/23)

HP5172 OSR 2130-0130(+1) SFT FK50 SE-LIO (14/11/23)

ERC Ingolstadt vs. Växjö Lakers

Strong Swedish outfit Växjö Lakers was another team to hire a turboprop plane for the mid-week away trip down south to Germany. They used a Saab 2000 of Nyxair to travel from their home-base in Småland down to Bavaria. Their way home did not lead directly to Växjö, but straight away to their next road destination, Skellefteå.

OJ730 VXO 1300-1500 IGS SB20 ES-NSH (14/11/23)

OJ731 IGS 1400-1710 SFT SB20 ES-NSH (15/11/23)

A Nyxair Saab 2000 seen at Zurich in January 2023, also on hockey charter duty.

EHC Biel-Bienne vs. Färjestad Karlstad

The Swedes had a daring plan, arriving at Basel-Mulhouse only about 4 hours before the puck-drop in this round of 16 match. With the prevailing weather conditions, this could easily have gone astray. But as things went, the ATR-72-600 touched down pretty much on time. Perfect for a good away win it seems.

TF8689 KSD 1200-1515 BSL AT76 SE-MKE (14/11/23)

TF8690 BSL 1100-1405 KSD AT76 SE-MKE (14/11/23)