Norse Atlantic Successfully Landed The First Boeing 787 Dreamliner In Antarctica

Norse Atlantic Airways has released more information about its Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight to Antarctica yesterday. The Norwegian carrier flew 45 scientists and 12 tons of equipment and supplies on the historic flight, which originated in Oslo before stopping over in Cape Town.

Norse Atlantic flight N0787

As Simple Flying reported yesterday, Norse Atlantic operated the world’s first 787 Dreamliner flight to Antarctica – flight N0787 landed at Troll Airfield (QAT) at 02:01 local time on Thursday morning following a five-hour flight from Cape Town (CPT). The carrier has released video footage of the plane landing and taking off in Antarctica, as seen below:

Bjørn Tore Larsen, CEO of Norse Atlantic Airways, commented,

“It is a great honor and excitement on behalf of the entire team Norse that we have achieved together a momentous moment of landing the first 787 Dreamliner. In the spirit of exploration, we are proud to have a hand in this important and unique mission. It is a true testament to our highly trained and skilled pilots and crew, and our state-of-the-art Boeing aircraft.”

The flight – chartered by the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) and Aircontact, Scandinavia’s largest air broker firm – carried 45 passengers, including scientists from NPI and other countries, bound for research stations in Antarctica. Along with its passengers, the 787 transported 12 tons of “essential research equipment” to the continent, made possible by its spacious 150 cubic meters of cargo capacity across three cargo holds.

Daniel Carey, spokesperson for Aircontact, added,

“We’ve been involved in missions to the Antarctic for years. The Dreamliner’s huge cargo space makes it perfect for these flights.”

Photo: Norse Atlantic

The aircraft involved (registration: LN-FNC) departed Troll Airfield just over four hours after landing on its 3,000-meter-long blue ice runway and has since arrived back in Cape Town. The charter mission originated in Oslo (OSL) on November 13, flying over 12 hours to Cape Town – the aircraft would remain in South Africa for over 40 hours before its onward journey to Antarctica.

Environmentally-friendly operations

Being able to fly a larger quantity of passengers and supplies with a modern plane like the 787 Dreamliner helps minimize the environmental impact of flight operations to/from Antarctica, reducing the number of flight movements needed to keep isolated research stations manned and equipped.

Photo: Norse Atlantic

The Dreamliner also has enough fuel capacity and efficiency to manage a round-trip flight between Cape Town and Antarctica without needing to refuel. According to Paul Erlandsson, Field Service Representative from Boeing, this not only improves turnaround times but removes the need to transport, store and handle fuel in Antarctica.

Camilla Brekke, Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, said,

“The most crucial aspect is the environmental gain we can achieve by using large and modern aircraft of this type for Troll. This can help reduce overall emissions and the environmental footprint in Antarctica. Landing such a large aircraft opens up entirely new possibilities for logistics at Troll, which will also contribute to strengthening Norwegian research in Antarctica.”

The team at Troll Airfield had to undertake extensive preparations to ensure the 787 widebody could land on its blue ice runway safely. NPI claims the 787 Dreamliner is the largest plane ever to land on the continent; however, charter carrier HiFly previously flew one of its Airbus A340-300 in 2021, which is a slightly longer aircraft than the 787-9 with a higher MTOW (maximum takeoff weight).

What are your thoughts on this historic Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight to Antarctica? Let us know in the comments.