Why the Greeks travel on Sunday already - UEFA Champions League Qualifiers R3 first leg

6 August 2024

Malmö FF vs. PAOK Saloniki

It is some way from Greece to Sweden. And PAOK Saloniki will want to be best prepared for the clash against the Swedish champions from Malmö. While PAOK won both games against Bosnian champions Borac Banja Luka, Malmö FF had a slip-up in their away game on the Faroe Islands against KI Klaksvik. The bookies have Malmö as favourites, although a draw or even an away win for PAOK can not be ruled out at all. PAOK traveled early, on Sunday, using an Aegean Airlines Airbus A320.

AEE6190 ATH 1615-1705 SKG A320 SX-DVS (04/08/24, ferry flight)

AEE4190 SKG 1800-1935 MMX A320 SX-DVS (04/08/24)

AEE6191 MMX 2045-0030(+1) ATH A320 SX-DVS (04/08/24, ferry flight)

AEE4191 MMX 2330-xxxx(+1) SKG A320 (06/08/24)

FK Qarabag Agdam vs. Ludogorets Razgrad

Another team to travel quite far is Ludogorets Razgrad. The champions from Bulgaria will meet their counterpart from Azerbaijan in Baku and as you might know, Qarabag are far from easy to beat at all. For the long trip to the East, Ludogorets will use an Embraer EMB-145 of Amelia Aviation which will get pushed to its range limits on this trip. The plane made its way from St-Brieuc in France to Varna on Sunday evening already.

AIA261F SBK 1530-2050 VAR E145 F-HGYM (04/08/24, ferry flight)

AIA261 VAR 0930-1255 GYD E145 F-HGYM (05/08/24)

AIA262 GYD xxxx-0235 VAR E145 F-HGYM (07/07/24)

Sparta Prague vs. FCSB

It is not very far from Bucharest to Prague and vice-versa. And FCSB even uses a Czech company for its travels to Prague for the first leg in this tie. Having overcome Maccabi Tel Aviv in the previous round, FCSB will need to be on top of their game to beat the Czech champions. Sparta had it quite a bit easier in their tie against Shamrock Rovers from Ireland, recording two clear wins away and at home in Prague. 

QS430P PRG 0600-0855 OTP B737 OK-SWW (05/08/24, ferry flight)

QS4309 OTP 1000-1055 PRG B737 OK-SWW (05/08/24)

QS4310 PRG 0050-xxxx OTP B737 (07/08/24)

FC Midtjylland vs. Ferencvaros

Both teams in this tie had easy opposition in the second round. Ferencvaros scored seven goals over two legs against New Saints from Wales while Midtjylland came up with four scores against Andorra's finest Santa Coloma. A German Airways Embraer EMB-190 will be the transport for Hungarian champions Ferencvaros from Budapest to Karup.

ZQ1899 BUD 1100-1300 KRP E190 D-AMWO (05/08/24)

Dynamo Kyiv vs. Glasgow Rangers

In the league path, Rangers will travel to Poland, where Dynamo Kyiv still have their playing home base this season. Rangers enter the competition in this round while Dynamo had two big wins over Partizan Belgrade in the previous round already. A Boeing 737-700 in special configuration operated by 2Excel Aviation will be at Rangers' disposal for the flight to Lublin.

BRO976A GLA 1500-1830 LUZ B737 G-NEWG (05/08/24)

BRO976B LUZ 2355-0135(+1) GLA B737 G-NEWG (06/08/24)

Lille OSC vs. Fenerbahçe Istanbul

It is a flight with Turkish Airlines from Sabiha Gökçen to Lille for Fenerbahçe. The game will take place in Valenciennes due to the Paris 2024 Olympics that also take place in Lille's Stade Pierre Mauroy. For the trip, a Boeing 737-800 will be ferried from Istanbul International on the European side of Istanbul across the Bosporus to Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side.

TK3306 IST 1200-1230 SAW B738 TC-JHO (05/08/24, ferry flight)

TK3307 SAW 1355-1625 LIL B738 TC-JHO (05/08/24) 

FC Salzburg vs. Twente Enschede

Another league path tie sees Salzburg facing Twente from the Netherlands. Both sides join the competition at this stage, although the Austrian runners-up are probably favourites for the berth in the play-offs. Twente will board a CRJ-900 of Global Reach Aviation at Enschede that will take them to Salzburg in just over an hour's flight time.

GAV312 BLL 0845-0945 ENS CRJ OY-MIT (05/08/24, ferry flt)

GAV312 ENS 1100-1215 SZG CRJ9 OY-MIT (05/08/24)

GAV312 SZG 1400-1515 FMO CRJ OY-MIT (07/08/24)

CRJ-900 OY-MIT of Global Reach Aviation

seen at Helsinki-Vantaa in July 2024

7 August 2024

Jagiellonia Bialystok vs. Bodø/Glimt

Once again Bodø/Glimt are representing Norway in the UCL qualifiers. For their third round tie, they will have to travel away to Poland, first to Modlin and then on land to Bialystok. As is quite usual for the Norwegian team, they will use a rather small aircraft in Embraer EMB-145 PH-DWA of Air Charters Europe.

AGR1007 BOO 1500-1745 WMI E145 PH-DWA (05/08/24)

AGR7 WMI 1845-2055 ANR E145 PH-DWA (05/08/24, ferry flight)

Slavia Prague vs. Union St-Gilloise

For only the second time in their history, USG have qualified for the UEFA Champions League. The 3rd round qualifier will initially take them to Prague where they will face Slavia at Fortuna Arena. Brussels Airlines will be responsible for the flight, using one of their Airbus A319 aircraft.

SN1175 BRU 1410-1540 PRG A319 OO-SSS (06/08/24)

SN1176 PRG 2350-0120(+1) BRU A319 OO-SSF (07/08/24)

Slovan Bratislava vs. APOEL Nicosia

The champions from Cyprus and Slovakia will continue their quest for Champions League tickets of the group stage variety. APOEL comes off a tight encounter with Petrocub from Moldova, while Slovan had it easier against Slovenian champions Celje in the second leg at least. For their trip West, APOEL will use an Airbus A321 of Fly One from Romania.

OE4018 LCA 1000-1220 BTS A321 (06/08/24)

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