On Thursday, November 16, a milestone in aviation history was reached. For the first time, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed in Antarctica on a large “blue ice runway.” This plane has a capacity for 330 passengers, and until now, only cargo and propeller planes smaller than this have landed on this continent.
This fact will help to contribute to and strengthen “Norwegian research in Antarctica,” as stated by Camila Brekke, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute. Well, in the Boeing 787, there were 45 scientists on board and twelve tons of equipment that had to be delivered to the Troll research station in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.
This is the flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Oslo to its unprecedented landing in Antarctica
The plane left Oslo on November 13. However, before they reached their destination, they had to stop in Cape Town to refuel and rest. Finally, in the early hours of Thursday, November 16, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed on a “blue ice runway” 3,000 meters long and 60 meters wide.
Norse Atlantic Airways CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen is also enthusiastic about reaching this milestone: “It is a great honor and excitement for the entire Norse team that together we have achieved such an important moment through the landing of the first 787 Dreamliner.” On their X account, formerly Twitter, they also took the opportunity to thank the Norwegian Polar Institute for entrusting them with this very important mission.
The director of the Norwegian Polar Institute also explained that “the most important aspect is the environmental benefit that we can achieve by using large, modern aircraft that will help reduce the total emissions and the environmental footprint of Antarctica.”
