Man United to Leipzig, Dortmund to Russia - UEFA Champions League 8 December 2020

Stade Rennais vs. Sevilla CF

The French hosts may be out of the Champions League already, but they get one more game against the Europa League title holders, who for once will not get the chance to defend their title. Sevilla will arrive in Rennes with Privilege Style, as usual:

PVG1890 SVQ 1100-xxxx RNS B752 (07/12/20)

Chelsea FC vs. FK Krasnodar

Thanks to a 4-0 win away in Seville, Chelsea are through to the round of 16. Krasnodar on the other hand have made it to the Europa League round of 32, as they can not be moved away from the 3rd place in this group any more. In what could very well be a first landing, they will arrive at Farnborough of all places, with Ural Airlines, on an A320:

SVR3337 KRR 1130-1315 FAB A320 (07/12/20)

SS Lazio Roma vs. Club Brugge

Brugge still have a chance to make it into the round of 16. To do so, they would have to beat Lazio in Rome however, which is not an easy prospect. Brugge will travel to Italy with Brussels Airlines:

SN1155 OST xxxx-1210 FCO A319 (07/12/20)

FK Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Borussia Dortmund

Already qualified for the next round, Borussia Dortmund travel to Zenit who are already out of the competition. They will do so with Eurowings and most probably their "own" branded A320 D-AIZR. The return flight will be to Paderborn, to allow a swift return from Russia, despite the night flight restrictions at Dortmund.

EW1909 DTM 1430-1905 LED A320 D-AIZR (07/12/20)

EW1909 LED 0130-0215 PAD A320 D-AIZR (09/12/20)

FC Barcelona vs. Juventus Turin

Juve will once again face Barcelona, in a matchup that has been a final before, in 2015 for example. Both sides are already through to the round of 16 and all there is to play for is the group win. Barça has the advantage there, having beaten Juve 2-0 away in Turin in October. Juve will travel with Alitalia as usual:

AZ9014 TRN 1630-1810 BCN A319 (07/12/20)

AZ9015 BCN 0100-0235 TRN A319 (09/12/20)

Dynamo Kyiv vs. Ferencvaros Budapest

Ferencvaros will travel to Kyiv with Wizz Air, but unlike most other teams who arrive at Borispol airport, they will arrive at Zhuliany airport, where Wizz Air also send its regular flights to Kyiv.

WZZ9003 BUD 1015-1300 IEV A321 (07/12/20)

Paris St-Germain vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

The Turkish champions Basaksehir are already out, while PSG is looking to seal a spot in the round of 16. A draw may already be enough for PSG, but to make sure, they would probably want to win against a side that has "only" beaten Manchester United so far, but lost out against Leipzig very late in the previous game. Basaksehir will travel to Paris with Turkish Airlines.

TK3233 IST 1155-1335 CDG B738 (07/12/20)

TK3234 CDG 1200-1725 IST B738 (09/12/20)

RB Leipzig vs. Manchester United

Most of the time, Manchester United is traveling with thought-to-be VIP-type planes, so them using Air Horizont to Leipzig may come as a small surprise:

HAT2026 MAN 1500-1755 LEJ B734 (07/12/20)

HAT2027 LEJ 0055-0150 MAN B734 (09/12/20)

Turks in Manchester, Sevilla off to the East - UEFA Champions League 24 November 2020

24 November 2020

Manchester United vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

For the first time ever, the lesser club from Istanbul, Basaksehir has made it to the Champions League. They have only three points in the bank so far, one could think. These came courtesy of a home win against none less than Manchester United however. Ole Gunnair Solskjaer's troops will be eager for revenge at Old Trafford. Basaksehir will arrive in Manchester with Turkish Airlines, using a Boeing 737-800 for their charter flight:

TK3233 IST 1200-1310 MAN B738 TC-JVE (23/11/20)

TK3234 MAN 1410-2110 IST B738 TC-JVE (23/11/20, ferry flt)

TK3233 IST 0950-1100 MAN B738 (25/11/20, ferry flt)

TK3234 MAN 1200-1900 IST B738 (25/11/20)

A Boeing 737-800 of Turkish Airlines, seen in Barcelona in June 2016

FK Krasnodar vs. Sevilla CF

Sevilla are heading to the East, looking to build on their strong position. They are currently in second place, on course for a spot in the Round of 16. To stay ahead of Krasnodar and Rennes behind them, even a draw would do just nicely. Sevilla will travel out to the early Tuesday fixture on Sunday afternoon already, using one of Privilege Style's Boeing 757-200s.

PVG1890 SVQ 1530-2245 KRR B752 (22/11/20)

Paris St-Germain vs. RB Leipzig

In the previous round, RB Leipzig came from behind and beat a very ill-disciplined PSG 2-1. The French hosts will look to bounce back from this disastrous effort out in Germany, while Leipzig could make big strides towards the round of 16 already. The visitors will arrive in Paris with Avanti Air:

ATV201H LEJ 1255-xxxx CDG F100 (23/11/20)

SS Lazio Roma vs. Zenit St. Petersburg

Lazio have had a good start to this European season, beating Borussia Dortmund and drawing the next two games against Brugge and Zenit. They will now need to win against a Zenit team that is desperate for points to at least be able to save themselves into the Europa League.

FV4101 LED xxxx-1300 FCO A319 (23/11/20)

Dynamo Kyiv vs. FC Barcelona

Barcelona are off to Kyiv to try and maintain their clean record in this season's Champions League so far. They have won all three games and if they win in Kyiv too, they will be qualified for the Round of 16 already. For once, Barcelona will travel with Privilege Style:

PVG7995 BCN 1500-1935 KBP B752 EC-HDS (23/11/20)

PVG7996 KBP xxxx-0430 BCN B752 EC-HDS (25/11/20)

Juventus vs. Ferencvaros Budapest

The Hungarian champions have only scored one point so far in the group stage. Their trip to Italy is not an easy one though, travelling to Juventus who are looking to make a big step forward towards the Round of 16. Ferencvaros will arrive in Torino with Wizz Air:

WZZ9001 BUD xxxx-1210 TRN A321 (23/11/20)

Rennes vs. Chelsea

BRO20P STN 1230 – 1300 FAB B733 GTCPG (23/11/20, ferry flt)

BRO20 FAB 1530 – 1615 RNS B733 GTCPG (23/11/20)

UEFA CL, play-off return leg, 22-23 August 2017

The ten remaining participants of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League were decided over two days with five matches each night. It was another round that brought about some notable charter flying, with TSG Hoffenheim travelling to Liverpool accompanied by a lot of supporters and Celtic Glasgow going very far towards the East, playing away at Kazakhstan's champions FC Astana.

22 August 2017

Sevilla CF vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

Sevilla sat on what seemed a comfortable lead from the first leg, but Basaksehir came twice within on goal of reaching the Champions League for the first time in their young club history. A 2-2 draw meant Sevilla reached the group stage, while Basaksehir played on in the Europa League.

TK3381 IST xxxx-1330 SVQ B738 (21/08/17)

TK3382 SVQ 0100-xxxx IST B738 (23/08/17)

HNK Rijeka vs. Olympiacos

The hosts had only managed to turn around the first leg fixture in the second half and thanks to an injury time goal by Romao they took a 2-1 lead onto the road. In Rijeka's nice stadium setting, they made no mistake however. Former German international turned journeyman Marko Marin scored one more goal for Olympiacos who thus reached the group stage.

AEE4010 ATH 1100-xxxx RJK A320 (21/08/17)

FC Astana vs. Celtic Glasgow

There could have been no doubts about the outcome of this tie. The first leg at Celtic Park had ended with a thumping 5-0 victory for Celtic who had already eliminated Linfield from Northern Ireland and Norwegian champions Rosenborg BK in previous rounds. Astana gave it a good whack, leading 4-1 at one point, but would still have required another three goals from there. The final result of 4-3 meant that Celtic went on to play in the Champions League. Aeronexus' Boeing 767-300/ER was their aircraft of choice for the long flight to Astana.

ARN01A GLA 1400-xxxx TSE B763 ZS-NEX (20/08/17)
ARN01A TSE 0200-0245 GLA B763 ZS-NEX (23/08/17)

OGC Nice vs. SSC Napoli

The Italians proved just one step too far for the Nice team coached by the Swiss Lucien Favre. Napoli had won the first leg at home 2-0 and went on to win in Nice by the same result.

TDR308 NAP 1700-1815 NCE F100 9A-BTD (21/08/17)

23 August 2017

Liverpool FC vs. TSG Hoffenheim

In their biggest match to that date, the upstarts of Hoffenheim faced Liverpool at Anfield Road, and seemingly played up the hill. Liverpool decided to not only defend the lead from the first leg, but to build on it. Within 20 minutes, Liverpool were three goals ahead and finally won the game 4-2, advancing to the Champions League group stage. It was the beginning of big things for Liverpool, who went to play in two successive finals of the competition. Hoffenheim played on in the Europa League, but finished last in their pool.

The game is remembered for a rare occurrence of a Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 that was called upon to take supporters across the channel, to Manchester in this case. There was a considerable number of other supporters flights too, with Eurowings' A320 and some corporate jets related to TSG Hoffenheim's owner.

LH342 FRA 1130-1215 MAN A333 (22/08/17)

LH343 MAN 1345-1625 FRA A333 (22/08/17, ferry flt)
MHV1899 MHG 1240-1340 LPL D328 D-CIRJ (22/08/17)
EW5218 FKB 1025-1130 MAN A320 (23/08/17)
SCR064 ??? xxxx-1145 LPL C525
D-CMHS ??? xxxx-1240 LPL C25B
D-IWPS ??? xxxx-1255 LPL C25A
MHV200 ??? xxxx-1430 LPL C25A D-IMHA

EW5219 MAN 0320-0615 FKB A320 (23/08/17)
MHV1899 LPL 0945-xxxx MHG D328 D-CIRJ (24/08/17)

LH342 FRA 0945-1030 MAN A333 (24/08/17, ferry flt)

LH343 MAN 1200-1440 FRA A333 (24/08/17)

A Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 arriving at Frankfurt in 2009. Only rarely have such aircraft been used for sports charter duties. 

FC Kobenhavn vs. FK Qarabag Agdam

The champions of Azerbaijan counted on Azerbaijan Airlines as usual for their trip to Copenhagen. At the Parken, they were determined to defend their 1-0 lead from the first leg at home and did well. Dino Ndlovu scored their very important away goal after a bit more than 60 minutes. They may have lost the game 2-1, but still qualified for the Champions League.

AHY5015 GYD 1730-2045 CPH A319 4K-8888 (21/08/17)

CSKA Moscow vs. BSC Young Boys

90 minutes were up in the first leg, when Young Boys' Kasim Nuhu turned a scoreless draw into a win for CSKA by virtue of scoring a slapstick own goal. The task proved too tough for the Swiss vice-champions once again, but at least the next season, they would finally make the cut.

2L6652 BRN xxxx-1740 SVO E190 (21/08/17)

2L1653 SVO 1915-xxxx BRN E190 (21/08/17, ferry flt)

FC Steaua Bucharest vs. Sporting CP

FCSB would have been hopeful after a first leg without any goals on either side. And at home they had a good start against Sporting, only to concede a first goal after 13 minutes. They managed to equalise the game soon after that, but in the second half, the floodgates opened seriously. Sporting won 5-1 and qualified for the Champions League.

PVG7991 LIS 1400-2130 OTP (21/08/17)

UEFA CL, Q3 first leg, 25-26 July 2017

25 July 2017

AEK Athens vs. CSKA Moscow

SU2798 SVO 0930-1345 ATH A320 (24/07/17)

SU2799 ATH 0150-0555 SVO A320 (26/07/17)

Partizan Belgrade vs. Olympiakos Piraeus

AEE4010 ATH 1130-1210 BEG A320 (24/07/17)

Vardar Skopje vs. FC Kobenhavn

MLT505 CPH 1000-1235 SKP B735 (24/07/17)

Slavia Prague vs. BATE Borisov

BRU8931 MSQ 1030-1115 PRG CRJ1 (24/07/17)

Steaua Bucharest vs. Viktoria Plzen

KRP2721 PRG 1000-xxxx OTP F100 (24/07/17)

26 July 2017

Club Brugge vs. Istanbul Basaksehir

TK3381 IST 1700-1945 OST B738 TC-JGM (24/07/17)

FC Salzburg vs. HNK Rijeka

SVB597 RJK xxxx-1200 SZG E145 (25/07/17)

SVB598 SZG 2155-xxxx RJK E145

Celtic Glasgow vs. Rosenborg Trondheim

DX5431 TRD 1200-1455 GLA A320 (25/07/17)

DX5432 GLA xxxx-1655 TRD A320 (27/07/17)

OGC Nice vs. Ajax Amsterdam

DX5391 AMS 1200-1340 NCE MD83 (25/07/17)

DX5392 NCE 1120-1300 AMS MD83 (27/07/17)

By ERIC SALARD from PARIS, FRANCE (OY-RUE)
[CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons