Norwegian Polar Institute
The plane landed at Troll Airfield in Antarctica after flying from Cape Town.
CNN
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There is short runway, a runway notorious for its uneven runways and exposure to crosswinds, now has a new runway for nervous planes to be wary of. It’s an ice runway.
North Atlantic Airlines grounded a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Wednesday under very unusual conditions. Destination: Antarctica. Runway: 3,000 meters (9,840 ft) long and 60 meters (100 ft) wide, the Blue Ice Runway is carved out of snow and ice.
The Dreamliner landed at Troll Airfield just after 2 a.m. Wednesday. It’s currently summer in the southern hemisphere, so the sun was shining brightly. This is the first time the Dreamliner, a wide-body aircraft that can carry up to 330 passengers depending on the model, has reached the sixth continent.
But before you try to book a flight to Troll yourself, know that flight N0787 is not a scheduled passenger route. The 45 passengers included scientists from the Norwegian Polar Research Institute, which had contracted a flight to take the 12-tonne equipment to Troll Research Station in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. .
Crossing the sea was not easy either. The plane departed from Oslo on November 13 and stopped in Cape Town before heading further south and making a record-breaking landing on Wednesday night.
The Dreamliner’s ample cargo space makes it an ideal aircraft for this flight, said Daniel Carey of Air Contact, which arranged the flight. Boeing field service representative Paul Erlandson said fuel efficiency was also a factor. The plane arrived at Antarctica without refueling and returned to Cape Town.
north atlantic airways
This is the first time a Dreamliner has reached the sixth continent.
“On behalf of the entire team, we are thrilled to have achieved this momentous moment together, the first 787 Dreamliner landing,” North Atlantic Airways CEO Bjorn Torre Larsen said in a statement. I’m honored and excited.”
“In the spirit of exploration, we are proud to be involved in this important and unique mission. This is proof.”
Kamila Brecke, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, said using larger aircraft or reaching the notoriously fragile continent would be more sustainable ways.
“The most important aspect is the environmental benefits that can be achieved by using large modern aircraft… [which] “We can help reduce our overall emissions and environmental footprint in Antarctica,” she said.
“The landing of such a large aircraft will open completely new possibilities for logistics in Troll, which will also contribute to strengthening Norway’s research in Antarctica.”