Ostersund to Billund

DAY 7, LEG 33 - Ostersund to Billund

The next leg takes us south into Denmark and a visit to Billund, home of the second busiest airport in the country.  The town is located in the central part of Jutland.  Billund is probably best known for being the birthplace of Lego and the theme park is located very close to the airport.  This will not be the last time we visit a Danish destination as the Faroe Islands and Greenland are both Danish dependencies and we will be flying into them both on our way across the Atlantic.

Reaching our cruising level of FL250 as we leave Ostersund behind us.

Overflying Norway's capital city Oslo.  The Ostensjovannet lake is just visible in the bottom right of the shot.

Passing a Lufthansa CRJ from Hamburg to Oslo.

Crossing the Skagerrak Strait towards the north-western coast of Denmark.

ESPC - EKBI stats

Take off time:    0643

Landing time:     0850

Flight time:        02:07

Fuel used:          899kg / 1978lbs

Tromso to Ostersund

DAY 7, LEG 32 - Tromso to Ostersund

After spending the night in Tromso, I decided to set off early to take advantage of the spring sunshine and the good weather that had moved in overnight.  At this time of year the sun rises very early in the Arctic Circle so it is a good opportunity to do some sightseeing on the way down to Ostersund in Sweden.

Ostersund is Sweden's 24th most populous city and is located on the shores of Storsjon lake.  The international airport is situated on an island adjacent to the city called Froson and the airport derives it's name from this island.

Taxi out at Tromso past a Norweigan Air Shuttle 737 promoting Unicef.

Taking off from runway 19 at Tromso over the fjords.

Climbing out of Tromso.

More fjords.

The morning sunshine reflecting off the clear water in the fjords as we climb to FL250 approaching Bardufoss.

After a long flight with most of the scenery obscured by cloud, it's nice to break out in the descent to the view of Landogssjon Lake, to the north of our destination.

A few patches of clear sky appearing overhead.

Turning onto the localiser for runway 12 at Ostersund.

Final approach to Ostersund over Storsjon Lake with the Rodovagen Bridge visible towards the top of the picture.  This bridge is one of two that connects Froson to the mainland.

Parked at Ostersund.

ENTC - ESPC stats

Take off time:    0445

Landing time:     0628

Flight time:        01:43

Fuel used:          727kgs / 1600lbs

Longyearbyen to Tromso

DAY 6, LEG 31 - Longyearbyen to Tromso

This leg takes us back south towards Tromso in Northern Norway.  Tromso is not the northernmost city in Norway but it still lies 350km inside the Arctic Circle.  It is widely regarded as one of the best places to visit to view the "northern lights".

Climbing out of Longyearbyen.

Cruising at FL200 between cloud layers.  Originally I planned to fly at FL250 but with the cloud blocking the level it was more sensible to fly slightly lower to avoid turbulence and icing during the cruise.

Vectoring into Tromso.

Final approach to the ILS for runway 01 behind an SAS 737-500 from Oslo.

Final approach along the fjord.

Parking at Tromso as an SAS 737 from Bodo lands.

ENSB - ENTC stats

Take off time:    1547

Landing time:     1900

Flight time:        02:13 (+1 hour time difference)

Fuel used:          1036kg / 2279lbs

Rovaniemi to Longyearbyen

DAY 6, LEG 30 - Rovaniemi to Longyearbyen

After a quick fuel stop in Rovaniemi it's time to continue even further north to our northernmost airport on the trip.  Longyearbyen is situated in the Svalbard archipelago on the island of Spitzbergen.  Our destination is halfway between Norway and the North Pole and is the northernmost airport in the world to operate scheduled flights.  At 80 degrees north latitude the island is dark for nearly 6 months of the year so it was good timing that we get the chance to visit in Spring, where there is plenty of daylight to help us navigate the mountainous island safely.

The routing takes us northwest towards Tromso on the northern coast of Norway where we pick up an airway that routes overhead Bear Island and then towards Spitzbergen.  We will have to take this route back south again as well.  We leave Rovaniemi with full tanks even though we are only expecting a 3 and a half hour flight time.  This gives us plenty of spare fuel in case the weather deteriorates at our destination.  For now the forecast is generally good.

Climbing out of Rovaniemi towards Kittila following the Ounasjoki River.

Far northeastern Finland looking towards the fjords at Tromso, Norway.

Turning overhead Tromso and heading north out over the cold Norwegian Sea.  I notice that the aircraft is consuming around 800pph of fuel compared to the 900pph that I plan for.  I can only think this is due to the colder atmosphere at these high latitudes but it helps a lot by giving a total endurance of over 5 hours!

Svalbard coming into view.

Descending into Longyearbyen as the sun begins to set at 3pm.

Final approach to runway 10 at Longyearbyen.  The temperature at the airport is -22 degrees centigrade!  Wrap up warm.

EFRO - ENSB stats

Take-off time:    1215

Landing time:     1535

Flight time:         03:20

Fuel used:          1300kgs / 2860lbs

Turku to Rovaniemi

DAY 6, LEG 29 - Turku to Rovaniemi

This leg takes us through our next milestone of the trip - crossing the Arctic Circle.  Rovaniemi is located in Lapland and is just north of the Arctic Circle.  It is Santa Claus' official airport and is busiest during the winter with charter flights for both Santa visits and skiers.  It is also home to the most northerly branch of McDonalds in the world!

Temperatures in Lapland can fall well below -20 centigrade but fortunately the spring weather has brought the temperature to just -2.  Still the coldest temperature so far on the trip but probably not the lowest we'll see.  Cape Town seems very distant!

View from outside the airport perimeter fence at Turku as we prepare to taxi.

Heading towards Oulu with Hailuoto Island visible to the west.

Starting descent into Rovaniemi with the city just visible and marking roughly the location of the Arctic Circle.

Downwind at Rovaniemi.

Final approach to a chilly Rovaniemi.

Parked at Rovaniemi.

EFTU - EFRO stats

Take-off time:    1122

Landing time:     1200 (-1 hour FS time difference)

Flight time:        01:38

Fuel used:          708kgs / 1558lbs

Gdansk to Turku

DAY 6, LEG 28 - Gdansk to Turku

This leg takes us across the Baltic Sea into Finland where we will land at Turku on the south-west coast of the country.  Once customs has been cleared we will file another flightplan and head north to Rovaniemi in Lapland.  Leaving Gdansk, I decided to fill the aircraft up with fuel, estimating that we will be able to fly to Turku then Rovaniemi without the need to refuel at Turku.  The weather forecast for Finland was good so hopefully there will be some good views!

Departing Gdansk.

Approaching the Finnish coastline.

Turku town.

Downwind at Turku.

Final approach to runway 29.

Parked at Turku.

EPGD - EFTU stats

Take-off time:   0938

Landing time:    1112

Flight time:       01:34

Fuel used:         741kgs / 1630lbs

Bucharest to Gdansk

DAY 6, LEG 27 - Bucharest to Gdansk

It was an early start again in Bucharest to make the most of the daylight hours as we head north into Poland and then on into Finland.  Our destination was Gdansk, Poland's principal port city.  The city has been a port for centuries and now moves over 27 million tonnes of cargo per year.  The city itself is home to numerous industries, including ship building, and its airport is a hub for the low-cost carrier Wizz Air.

A miserable morning in Bucharest.  Departing on the westerly runway looking at the main terminal.

Climbing out over the Carpathian mountains to the north of Bucharest.

Flying over Lodz, the third largest city in Poland behind Warsaw and Krakow.

Looking at the town of Plock on the Vistula river.  The river splits Poland in two and runs all the way to our destination at Gdansk.

Overflying the city of Gdansk on final for runway 29 behind a Ryanair flight from London Stansted.

Final approach for runway 29.

Parked near the cargo terminal at Gdansk.

LROP - EPGD stats

Take off time:  0534

Landing time:   0924 (+1 hour time difference)

Flight time:      02:50

Fuel used:        1171kgs / 2576lbs

Progress report

European legs progress...

Stats for the tour so far

Legs:            26

Total time:   47:36

Total dist:    13430 nm

Fuel used:     20456kg / 45003lbs

Rijeka to Bucharest

DAY 5, LEG 26 - Rijeka to Bucharest

The last leg of day 5 took me to Bucharest, Romania.  There are two international airports in Bucharest located a few miles from each other, but we are visiting Otopeni, the larger and principal airport for the city.  The flight time is scheduled to take just under two hours and the weather in Bucharest is typically chilly for this time of year with snow forecast later in the evening.  The weather for our departure from Rijeka was warmer, but with thunderstorms in the area and the wind given as variable at 1 knot, gusting up to 22!  Should make for an interesting take-off.

Climbing out of Rijeka in turbulence.

Sunset over Croatia heading inland towards Zagreb.

Overhead Zagreb.

Established on the ILS at Bucharest Otopeni in very foggy conditions.

Runway lights just becoming visible through the fog.

Very short final 08L.

LDRI - LROP stats

Take off time:    1637

Landing time:     1839

Flight time:        02:02

Fuel used:          836kg / 1839lbs