Travelling to a sporting event by private jet? These will be the most popular of 2016
2016 is a big year in the sporting world. With huge events like the European Football Championships in France, the Olympics in Brazil, the rugby union Six Nations, as well as annual high-profile attractions including the Champions’ League Final and the Super Bowl, aircraft charter companies are gearing up for a busy year.
Leading aircraft charter specialist, UK-based Air Charter Service, has said that it expects more business from some events than others, with Justin Bowman, ACS’s CEO, commenting: “2016 is a busy sporting year… however, we expect that not all of these will prove busy for the charter market. The Olympics, for example, takes place over the course of a whole month and all in one city. This really means that only very few will choose to travel to it in the luxury of a chartered jet.
"We saw very little inbound activity in 2012 to the London games. We believe that the busiest will be the European Football Championships, with a lot of corporate entertainment planned. We have already booked almost 50 charters to and from the tournament. With matches dotted around the country, chartering becomes a much more attractive option than coach journeys and high prices on scheduled airlines’ flights. “Also, with the championships taking place in France, day trips are possible – arriving a few hours before the match, soaking up the atmosphere, and leaving soon after the match finishes. And, should a match go to penalties, the chartered aircraft will sit and wait for you.” ACS has already booked around 5,000 rugby fans on chartered aircraft to the Six Nations this year, as well as arranging many flights for various Champions’ League ties. Bowman added: “Depending on who reaches the Champions’ League Final at the San Siro stadium in Milan, we may see a spike in charter demand. For the 2009 final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome between Manchester United and Barcelona we flew almost 4,000 fans, sponsors and teams.” Lat year’s big-money fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao, dubbed ‘Fight of The Century’, generated a huge demand for private jets in and out of Las Vegas airport, which eventually did not allow any more jets to land as it was full to capacity.
Many private jet charter firms recommend booking well in advance for big sorting events, so if you were thinking about heading over to France this summer to watch England’s exciting young team take on Europe’s best, we suggest you book your private jet as soon as possible!