August is the new March - UEFA Champions League 7 & 8 August 2020

There were four return leg matches that could not be played in March 2020 and were thus moved to August. At least all of those matches could be played at the respective home clubs' grounds, but of course without spectators.

7 August 2020

Manchester City vs. Real Madrid

Spanish giants Real may be the record winners of the Champions League, but without their captain Sergio Ramos they faced a difficult task away at Man City. Eastlands is hardly ever a busy place on Champions League nights, so the City players may have had an extra advantage. Real stuck to their usual travel arrangements, though using an A320 is rather rare for them, as bigger metal is usually called for in the knockout stage:

IB2850 MAD 1045-1145 MAN A320 EC-LUL (06/08/20)

IB2851 MAN 1300-1600 MAD A320 EC-LUL (06/08/20, ferry flt)

IB2850 MAD 2115-2245 MAN A20N EC-NCM (07/08/20, ferry flt)

IB2851 MAN 0130-0415 MAD A20N EC-NCM (08/08/20)

Iberia A320neo EC-NER at Madrid, March 2020

Juventus Turin vs. Olympique Lyonnais

With a 1-0 lead over Juventus, Lyon would have thought about good chances to make it to the quarterfinals. To lead 1-0 again after just 12 minutes though was almost beyond expectation, even if OL look like a team that could actually make it far in the unpredictable format that is coming up now. For their trip across from Lyon to Turin, they chose Amelia International and one of their EMB-145s:

AEH071 LYN 1100-1145 TRN E145 F-HRAM (06/08/20)

AEH072 TRN 0145-0230 LYS E145 F-HRAM (08/08/20)

8 August 2020

Bayern München vs. Chelsea

Chelsea faced an uphill task in Munich, having lost the first leg 3-0 already. They got comprehensively beaten in the empty Allianz Arena in Munich. For their trip they chose JOTA Aviation with one of their Avro RJs, in this case RJ100 G-JOTS:

ENZ114P SEN 1230-1300 FAB RJ1H G-JOTS (07/08/20, ferry flt)

ENZ114 FAB 1500-1800 MUC RJ1H G-JOTS (07/08/20)

ENZ115 MUC 0045-0130 LGW RJ1H G-JOTS (09/08/20)

ENZ115P LGW 0215-0245 SEN RJ1H G-JOTS (09/08/20, ferry flt)

2019-2020 UEFA Champions League Update

The Champions League will be back! At least so far there are plans confirmed by UEFA now that the final tournament for the current season is to take place in Lisbon from 12 August to 23 August. The stadiums of SL Benfica and Sporting will host the eight remaining teams in the competition. Four round of 16 return leg matches are yet to be played as well and might get hosted in Portugal as well. The stadiums of FC Porto and Vitoria Guimarães are on standby for this.

TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321neo CS-TJI seen at Lisbon in February 2019

All these matches will happen behind closed doors. This will probably mean that there is not much to see for the enthusiasts around Lisbon Airport. At least there will be eight teams arriving in Lisbon for these games, so some charter traffic can be expected.

Information about who will travel to Lisbon with which plane(s) will be posted as soon as it is available. For the time being however, it is not even clear who will play against who. As a quick reminder, these are the teams still in contention for this season's UEFA Champions League title:

• Atalanta Bergamo
• RB Leipzig
• Atlético Madrid
• Paris St-Germain
• Juventus Turin or Olympique Lyonnais
• Manchester City or Real Madrid
• Bayern München or Chelsea
• FC Barcelona or SSC Napoli

On an Airbus to San Siro? - UEFA Champions League Group Stage MD3

23 October 2019

RB Leipzig vs. Zenit St. Petersburg

The young German team from Leipzig faces the current pool leaders from St. Petersburg. Zenit will use Rossiya, as they usually do.

FV4101 LED xxxx-1330 LEJ A319 (22/10/19)

FV4102 LEJ 2230-xxxx(+1) LED A319

Inter Milan vs. Borussia Dortmund

Once again, the nicely painted "Mannschaftsairbus" will take Borussia Dortmund on an away trip, this time to the iconic San Siro in Milan. Or at least as far as Malpensa airport.

KLJ6115 DTM 1100-xxxx MXP B735 (22/10/19)

EW1909 DTM 1115-xxxx MXP A320 (22/10/19)

KRC Genk vs. Liverpool FC

The holders from Liverpool will have to look for maximum points from the next two matches against the Belgian champions Genk. They will travel as usual, using Titan Airways:

ZT4081 LPL xxxx-1830 MST B752 G-POWH (22/10/19)
ZT4082 MST 1400-xxxx LPL B752 G-POWH (24/10/19)

Slavia Prague vs. FC Barcelona

UX937 BCN 1600-xxxx PRG B738 (22/10/19)

SL Benfica vs. Olympique Lyonnais

FPO857 LYS xxxx-1135 LIS B737 (22/10/19)

ENT511 LYS xxxx-1100 LIS B738 (22/10/19)

OSC Lille vs. Valencia CF

YW5014 VLC 1500-xxxx LIL CRJ2 (22/10/19)

YW2011 VLC 1715-xxxx LIL CRJX (22/10/19)

UEFA Women's Champions League Final, 18 May 2019

18 May 2019

Olympique Lyonnais vs. FC Barcelona (in Budapest)

The traditional clubs in the men's game are more and more taking over in the Women's game as well, wit OL facing FC Barcelona in Budapest for the female UCL title this year:

EUP421 LYS 1000-1200 BUD E145 F-HBPE (17/05/19)

MLT673 BCN 0750-xxxx BUD B733 (18/05/19)

MLT674 BUD 2345-0140(+1) BCN B733 (18/05/19)

UEFA CL, R16 first leg, 19-20 February 2019

19 February 2019

Olympique Lyonnais vs. FC Barcelona

The Spanish giants will not have to travel far for their round of 16, facing OL at Parc OL, quite close from Satolas airport. Barça prevailed against Tottenham, Inter and PSV Eindhoven. Lyon finished as runners-up against Manchester City, Shakhtar Donezk and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

IB2851 BCN 1030-1155 LYS A320 (18/02/19)

UX937 BCN 1030-1155 LYS B738 (18/02/19)

IB2851 LYS xxxx-0125 BCN A320 (20/02/19)

UX938 LYS xxxx-0135 BCN B738 (20/02/19)

Liverpool FC vs. FC Bayern München

While Liverpool seems to be on a good run domestically, Bayern has been strangely struggling this season. The latter won their Champions League convincingly however, while Liverpool has had to fight a bit more against PSG, Red Star Belgrade and Napoli:

LH2570 MUC xxxx-1215 MAN A359 (18/02/19)
LH2571 MAN 1310-xxxx MUC A359 (18/02/19, ferry flt)
XG4513 MUC 1045-1205 LPL B738 (18/02/19)

ST1082 MUC 0900-1030 LPL (19/02/19)

DE9138 MUC 0905-1020 MAN B753 (19/02/19)
SDR8828 MUC 0900-1005 LPL A320 (19/02/19)

DE9139 MAN 0200-0505 MUC (20/02/19)

ST1083 LPL 0305-0605 MUC (20/02/19)
LH2570 MUC xxxx-0900 MAN (20/02/19, ferry flt)
LH2571 MAN 1030-xxxx MUC (20/02/19, ferry flt)

Credits to AlphaFive from Manchester on Facebook!

20 February 2019

FC Schalke 04 vs. Manchester City

ENT256 MAN 1400-1615 DUS BA46 G-SMLA (19/02/19) GNJ57 MAN 1500-xxxx DUS B752 SX-RFA (19/02/19)

UEFA CL, GS MD5, 27 November 2018

27 November 2018

Group E

AEK Athens vs. Ajax Amsterdam

OR7395 AMS 1000-xxxx ATH B738 OO-JAV (26/11/18)

OR7396 ATH xxxx-1735 AMS B738 OO-JAD (28/11/18)

FC Bayern München vs. SL Benfica

HFM612 LIS 0950-1340 MUC A340 (26/11/18)

HFM631 MUC 1450-1650 LIS A340 (28/11/18)

Group F

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Manchester City

ZT1601 MAN 1500-1755 LYS B752 (26/11/18)

MT9064 MAN xxxx-1020 LYS

LS6669 MAN xxxx-1030 LYS

BY8024 MAN xxxx-1105 LYS

BY8025 LYS 0010-xxxx MAN (28/11/18)

LS6670 LYS 0055-xxxx MAN (28/11/18)

MT9065 LYS 0055-xxxx MAN (28/11/18)

ZT1605 LYS 1500-xxxx MAN B752 (28/11/18)

Group G

CSKA Moscow vs. Viktoria Plzen

OK7110 PRG 1010-1255 SVO A319 (26/11/18)

AS Roma vs. Real Madrid

IB2806 MAD 1030-1255 FCO A333 (26/11/18)
IB2807 FCO xxxx-0320 MAD A333 (28/11/18)

Group H

Manchester United vs. BSC Young Boys

2L8442 BRN xxxx-1230 MAN F100 HB-JVE (26/11/18)
TDR526 BRN xxxx-1305 MAN F100 (26/11/18)
2L8452 BRN 1130-1225 MAN F100 HB-JVE (27/11/18)
ST1018 ZRH 1400-1505 MAN A319 D-ASTL (27/11/18)
ST1019 MAN xxxx-xxxx BRN A319 D-ASTL (28/11/18, diverted to BSL)
2L8443 MAN xxxx-xxxx BRN F100 (28/11/18)
2L8453 MAN xxxx-xxxx BRN F100 (28/11/18)
TDR527 MAN xxxx-xxxx BRN F100 (28/11/18)

Juventus Turin vs. CF Valencia

YW2001 VLC 1300-xxxx TRN CRJX (26/11/18)
YW5001 VLC 1300-xxxx TRN CRJ2 (26/11/18)

UEFA CL, GS MD3, 23 October 2018

Group E

AEK Athens vs. FC Bayern München

Despite wearing Qatar Airways sponsorship badges on their shirts these days, Bayern are still traveling with Lufthansa on their European journeys, using one of the company's Airbus A340-600s for the trip to Greece once more:

LH2570 MUC 1030-1350 ATH A346 (22/10/18)
LH2571 ATH 1205-1335 MUC A346 (24/10/18)

Ajax Amsterdam vs. SL Benfica

Privilege Style has a habit of carrying teams from Spain all across the continent, but their Portuguese neighbors are no strangers either to the use of the elegantly painted Boeing 757s:

PVG7995 LIS xxxx-1325 AMS B752 EC-HDS (22/10/18)
PVG7996 AMS 1200-xxxx LIS B752 EC-HDS (24/10/18)

Group F

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Arrival airports seem to change in rotation for the visitors of the German club based right next to the A6 motorway in Sinsheim. This time Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden is the port of choice for Olympique Lyonnais, but who could have ruled out a trip within France for them, to either Strasbourg or Colmar-Houssen?

FPO807 LYS 1000-xxxx FKB B737 (22/10/18)
FPO808 FKB xxxx-1405 LYS B737 (24/10/18)

Shakhtar Donezk vs. Manchester City (in Kharkiv)

ZT581 MAN 1500-2100 HRK B752 G-ZAPX (21/10/18)
TCX9062 MAN 0555-1155 HRK A321 (23/10/18)

Group G

AS Roma vs. CSKA Moscow

The Russian army club has a sponsorship with Aeroflot that even includes a plane in the club's colours, so Aeroflot is the logic choice for CSKA's trip to the Italian capital, where they will face AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico:

SU7004 SVO 1000-1255 FCO A320 (21/10/18)
SU7005 FCO 0130-0600 SVO A320 (24/10/18)

Real Madrid vs. Viktoria Plzen

No great surprises when it comes to the amount of seats on offer for this away trip. Real Madrid may still be the biggest attraction in Champions League football, even if Cristiano Ronaldo has now left the club and moved to Turin. No less than three aircraft will carry Czech players, staff and supporters to Madrid:

OK6106 PRG xxxx-1225 MAD A319 (22/10/18)
QS4570 PRG xxxx-1355 MAD B738 (22/10/18)
QS4540 PRG xxxx-1100 MAD B738 (23/10/18)
QS4571 MAD 0145-xxxx PRG B738 (24/10/18)
QS4541 MAD 0155-xxxx PRG B738 (24/10/18)
OK6107 MAD 1100-xxxx PRG A319 (24/10/18)

Group H

Manchester United vs. Juventus Turin

It is yet another return to an old club for CR7, with Manchester United of course being the club where he first became really famous. His trip was far from certain though, after he conceded a red card in the first Champions League fixture against Valencia early this season.

AZ**** TRN xxxx-1750 MAN A321 (22/10/18)
AZ**** MAN 1100-xxxx TRN A321 (24/10/18)

BSC Young Boys vs. Valencia CF

Bern is always a tricky journey to plan, with the airport notorious for being pested by fog and because of very restrictive night flying regulations. Valencia is thus flying to nearby (100km) Basel, where aircraft movements are not quite as heavily restricted:

YW5011 VLC 1130-1330 BSL CRJX (22/10/18)
YW2001 VLC 1300-1500 BSL CRJ2 (22/10/18)
YW2002 BSL xxxx-0145 VLC CRJ (24/10/18)
YW5012 BSL xxxx-0155 VLC CRJ (24/10/18)

UEFA CL, GS MD1, 19 September 2018

Group E

Ajax Amsterdam vs. AEK Athens

The Greek champions find themselves in a rather tricky pool, together with Ajax, Bayern and Benfica. Supposedly, qualifying for the Europa League knock-out stage would be their target from this group. Their first away trip takes them to Amsterdam, where they will face Ajax:

AEE4050 ATH xxxx-1300 AMS A320 (18/09/18)

AEE4051 AMS 1245-xxxx ATH A320 (20/09/18)

SL Benfica vs. FC Bayern München

Despite a new transport sponsor, it is still Lufthansa that flies FC Bayern to the away games in Europe, and in some style, still using a big widebody like an Airbus A340-600 from Munich to the first away stop in Lisbon:

LH2570 MUC 0950-1200 LIS A346 (18/09/18)
LH2571 LIS 1700-2055 MUC A346 (20/09/18)

Group F

Manchester City vs. Olympique Lyonnais

The former French serial champions have made it into the big competition once again and will play against one of the financial heavyweights in Manchester City, which is relying on lots of money from the Arabian peninsula. Some fans of OL will travel to the City of Manchester stadium with Privilege Style:

AF4002 LYS 1100-1155 MAN A320 (18/09/18)
PVG7335 LYS 1100-1155 MAN B752 (19/09/18)

PVG7336 MAN 2355-0355(+1) LYS B752 (19/09/18)
AF4003 MAN 1115-1515 LYS A320 (20/09/18)

Group G

Real Madrid vs. AS Roma

Having won the competition three times in a row in recent seasons, Real are in for something new this season, with a new manager and obviously without their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has left the club. AS Roma will travel across the Mediterranean with Alitalia.

AZ8950 FCO xxxx-1805 MAD A319 (18/09/18)

AZ8951 MAD 0030-xxxx FCO A319 (20/09/18)

Group H

BSC Young Boys vs. Manchester United

The fifth club to qualify for the Champions League from Switzerland, YB, is hosting Manchester United first up at the Stade de Suisse. Traveling to and from Berne can always be a slight challenge, with only a short runway and not much ramp space available. Also, night flying hours are severely restricted. Manchester United has chosen to stay in Bern over night after the match and they will use a rather small aircraft for the trip, in KlasJet's luxurious Boeing 737-500 LY-KLJ:

KLJxxxx ??? xxxx-0730 MAN B735 LY-KLJ (18/09/18, ferry flt)

KLJ1138 MAN 1000-1235 BRN B735 LY-KLJ (18/09/18)
MLT709F ??? xxxx-1100 MAN B735 9H-MAC (18/09/18, ferry flt)
MLT709 MAN 1230-1515 BSL B735 9H-MAC (18/09/18)

KLJxxxx BRN xxxx-1045 MAN B735 LY-KLJ (20/09/18)
MLT710 BSL xxxx-1220 MAN B735 9H-MAC (20/09/18)
MLT710F MAN 1305-xxxx ??? B735 9H-MAC (20/09/18, ferry flt)

Valencia CF vs. Juventus Turin

CR7 may have won the Champions League several times, with Manchester United and Real Madrid, but he is still looking for new challenges and has joined Juventus now. His first UCL trip on Juve duty will take him to Valencia with Alitalia:

AZ9014 TRN xxxx-1755 VLC A321 (18/09/18)

AZ9015 VLC 1100-xxxx TRN A321 (20/09/18)

UEFA Women's Champions League Final, 24 May 2018

24 May 2018

VfL Wolfsburg vs. Olympique Lyonnais (in Kiev)

The women play their final in Kiev too, two days before the men's game. This year's finalists come from Wolfsburg and Lyon:

7W7773 KBP 1130-xxxx BWE A321 UR-WRH (22/05/18, ferry flt)
7W7774 BWE xxxx-1630 KBP A321 UR-WRH (22/05/18)

PEA421 LYS 0900-xxxx IEV E145 F-HBPE (23/05/18)
PEA421 KBP xxxx-0215 LYS E145 F-HBPE (25/05/18)

UEFA Womens' Champions League Final, 1 June 2017

UEFA Womens' Champions League Final

1 June 2017

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Paris St-Germain (in Cardiff)

AEH641F CWL 1200-xxxx LBG E145 (30/05/17)
AEH711 LYN xxxx-1040 CWL E135 F-GRGP (31/05/17)
ZI927 ORY 0855-1000 CWL A320 F-HAQD
AF4004 LYS 1000-1040 CWL A320 F-GKXS
AF363V CWL 1125-xxxx CDG A320 F-GKXS (ferry flt)
ZI959 ORY 1250-1355 CWL A320 F-HBIB
"PVT001" LBG xxxx-1705 CWL
AF364V CDG xxxx-2300 CWL A321 F-GTAU (ferry flt)
AF4005 CWL 2345-0210(+1) LYS A321 F-GTAU
ZI928 CWL 0155-0420 CDG A320 F-HAQD (02/06/17)
ZI960 CWL 0300-0525 CDG A320 F-HBIB (02/06/17)
AEH642 CWL 1100-xxxx LBG E145 (02/06/17)

UEFA Champions League Final, 19 May 2012

17 May 2012 - Ladies' Final

Two days before the men's final, the final of the UEFA Women's Champions League was played at the old ground of FC Bayern München and 1860 München, the Olympic Stadium that was built for the games in 1972. Olympique Lyonnais won this title 2-0 over 1. FFC Frankfurt in front of a record crowd of more than 50.000 spectators.

Olympique Lyonnais vs. 1. FFC Frankfurt (in Munich, Olympiastadion)

EI-CXO, Blue Panorama, Boeing 767-300/ER

19 May 2012

FC Bayern München vs. FC Chelsea (in Munich, Allianz-Arena)

The Champions League final was contested in Munich between the home team Bayern and Chelsea. Bayern had to go as far as a penalty shootout in the semifinal, where Sergio Ramos sent his effort high up into the skies of Madrid. Chelsea on their behalf successfully defended a 1-0 lead from the first leg away in Barcelona, scoring a 2-2 draw. This was enough for the team under stand-in manager Roberto Di Matteo to book a ticket for what the Germans billed as the "Finale dahoam" (a final at home).

Within the last ten minutes of regulation time, the mach really burst to life. Thomas Müller scored the leading goal for Bayern, but Didier Drogba equalised not long after. In extra time, Drogba gave away a penalty that could have brought Bayern the victory, but Arjen Robben failed score. Drogba then scored the decisive penalty in the shootout to give Chelsea a triumph many thought was impossible.

CS-TQP, HiFly, A330-200
EC-LEQ, XL Airways France, A330-300
G-BZOG, Loganair, Do-328 (18/05/12)
G-CELB, Jet2, Boeing 737-300 (Jet2 Yorkshire)
G-CELU, Jet2, Boeing 737-300 (Jet2 Scotland)
G-POWC, Titan Airways, Boeing 737-300
G-TCBC, Thomas Cook UK, Boeing 757-200 (18/05/12, twice)
G-VBLU, Virgin Atlantic, A340-600 (18/05/12 & 19/05/12)
G-VIIP, British Airways, B777-200/ER
G-ZAPK, Titan Airways, BAe 146-200
HB-IQI, Edelweiss Air, A330-200
I-NEOS, Neos, Boeing 737-800
OK-TVB, Travel Service, Boeing 737-800
OY-VKG, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, A330-300 (18/05/12)
PH-HSG, Transavia, Boeing 737-800
SX-MTF, Multiflight, Boeing 737-300 (18/05/12, Chelsea team charter)

EC-KVU, Bombardier BD-700 (18/05/12)
G-PEER, Cessna 525
G-RGSG, Hawker 900
G-WCCI, Embraer EMB-135 Legacy 600
LZ-YUN, CL-600, Lazur Air (18/05/12)
M-IABU, A340-300 (18/05/12)
OM-GLE, Premier 1
PH-AJX, Falcon 7X
TC-AZR, Falcon 900 (parked at IGS)
VP-CDA, Falcon 90B