Hi Fly flew Sporting football team to Kazakhstan for their first leg of the Europa League against Astana.

The Portuguese team ended up securing the victory and gaining the advantage for the next phase of the competition.

Hi Fly’s Airbus A340-500 departed from Lisbon on the evening of February 13th 2018 performing what is the longest journey of all UEFA competitions. The players slept through the eight-hour flight as the team decided to stick to Lisbon time and avoid the need to adapt to the six-hour time difference.

The aircraft landed in Astana at around 6 p.m. local-time – noon in Portugal, with temperatures of about -20 degrees Celsius.

Despite all the challenges and even though Astana made a great start taking a seventh-minute lead thanks to Marin Tomasov, Sporting roared back with three goals by Bruno Fernandes, Gelson Martins and Seydou Doumbia ending the game with a 1-3 result.

Hi Fly brought the team home to Portugal on the evening of February 15th 2018 landing in Lisbon on the morning of the 16th.

This is not the first time that Hi Fly has collaborated with football clubs; the airline’s quick response-capacity and high adaptability makes it a prime choice for sports’ teams to take their players to competitions all over the globe.

Hi Fly is a European, EU – OPS, FAA approved, EASA and IOSA certified carrier that operates a large fleet of Airbus A330’s and A340’s, exclusively available for wet lease worldwide. Wet leasing (the supply of aircraft with crew, maintenance and insurance) is Hi Fly’s core business, and has been developed with unmatched operational expertise for over a decade.