Norse Atlantic Airways made the first landing of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Antarctica. The widebody registration LN-FNC arrived at Troll Airfield at 02:01 (local time) on November 15, 2023.
The aircraft had left Oslo on November 13th for Cape Town, South Africa, where it made a technical stopover. From there the jet flew to Antarctica carrying 45 passengers and 12 tons of equipment to the Troll research station, maintained by the Norwegian Polar Institute, which hired Norse.
Antarctica has few paved runways and Troll Airfield has a “blue ice runway” 3,000 meters long and 60 meters wide.
The Norwegian research station is located in Jutulsessen, in Queen Maud Land, approximately 235 kilometers from the coast.
“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” said Brekke Camilla Brekke, Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute. “Landing such a large aircraft opens up entirely new possibilities for logistics at Troll, which will also contribute to strengthening Norwegian research in Antarctica.”
“It is a great honor and excitement on behalf of the entire Norse team that we have achieved together a momentous moment of landing the first 787 Dreamliner,” said Bjørn Tore Larsen, CEO of Norse Atlantic Airways.
The low-cost airline was formed by former executives from Norwegian Air. The 787 LN-FNC even flew with it before a financial crisis forced the carrier to reduce its fleet.
The 787 was not the first widebody to operate in Antarctic ice. Previously, an Airbus A340 from Portuguese airline Hi Fly also landed on the continent.
