A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has landed on a unique blue ice runway at Antarctica’s Troll research station for a second time to drop off 10.5 tons of research equipment and a team of climate scientists working for the Norwegian Polar Institute.
The six-year-old aircraft operated by Norse Atlantic Airways departed Oslo, Norway, on November 13 for the initial 12-hour flight to Cape Town, South Africa, where it was prepped for the journey down to the frozen continent.
At around 7:30 am on November 15, the crew and scientists departed Cape Town for the five-and-a-half-hour flight to Troll, operating under the appropriately chosen flight number NO-787.
The 3,300-metre-long ice runway at Troll Airfield was specially prepared for the widebody aircraft, allowing the team of scientists to bring ‘significant volumes’ of research equipment with them.
“Landing such a large aircraft for the second time is an important milestone for us in Antarctica,” commented John Guldahl, who heads the Norwegian Polar Institute’s operations and logistics.
“It opens up new opportunities for logistics at Troll, as we can transport both more cargo and more people in the same flight, which will also help strengthen Norwegian research in Antarctica,” Guldahl continued.
Norse Atlantic was tapped to operate the flight by Aircontact, one of the oldest air brokers in the world which was commissioned by the Norwegian Polar Institute to organize the charter flight.
The Oslo-based carrier was first hired to fly to Troll last year, making history when it landed a Boeing 787-9 on the continent for the very first time. The contract between Norse Atlantic and Aircontact should see the airline operate two further flights to Troll.
Norse Atlantic was created as a low-cost, long-haul airline, but CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen has adapted the carrier’s business strategy to focus a lot more on lucrative charter operations and so-called wet-leasing services.
Norse is now flying around half of its operating capacity through wetlease and contract agreements with other airlines, and the airline is in talks with several airlines to lease out its aircraft for multi-year contracts.
