Champions League Charters - Who is travelling?

The current season of the Champions League is interrupted because of COVID-19. But there are many aspects around the travel arrangements for the teams in the competition to look into while we wait for a new date for the Champions League final that was meant to be held in Istanbul this weekend. Apparently Lisbon is in the starting blocks for an end to the season in a shortened format, but UEFA is yet to communicate a possible new schedule and more details. At least many leagues are now picking up their trade again. After the German Bundesliga, also the leagues in Switzerland, Austria, England, Spain and Italy have communicated their restart dates.

We have learnt about the structure of the competition in the previous post. But what happens in each match week? We leave the tactical and technical aspects aside and go straight back into the logistics. There is one major point from UEFA there, which is that teams are obliged to travel to their destinations on the day before a game takes place at the latest. Some teams tend to arrive early, while others decide to train on their own facilities in the morning and then to travel to the opposition’s city without holding a training session there. Still, there are media obligations to fulfil, which means that an arrival after 18.00h on the day before match day is basically off limits.

Shakhtar Donezk arrived in Basel one day ahead of their match against FC Basel that took place on 16 September 2008. Their fans followed on the match day.

Now to think that there are just eleven players plus a few extra people travelling would be inaccurate. On a match sheet, each club can have 18 players. There are coaches, physios, other backroom staff and of course the chairmen of the clubs travelling as well. And there are more stakeholders in a club, such as sponsors, partners and the local media. For most Champions League trips these days, there is enough personnel travelling to warrant an Airbus A320 or a decent-sized Boeing 737. Add to this the Under-19 youth team that will play in a shadow version of the Champions League, the UEFA Youth League. Two complete football teams with their backroom staff and other people have been at the source of many away day with more than one aircraft involved already.

Then there are the fans. They want to see their heroes doing well abroad as well. Some might want to see other cities and take some time for this, so they would travel on scheduled flights and not necessarily on direct flights. Most clubs are in a close relationship with a travel agency though and are thus able to organize fan charters for supporters. The odd club might still offer travelling with the team on the same plane. These opportunities have become rare however – and they come at some price.

Generally, the number of charter flights increases with the importance of the game for the club. Teams who were on the brink of qualifying for the group stage for the first time have been known for good efforts at getting their supporters on the move. Unfortunately for Salzburg in 2014 and Hoffenheim in 2017, such efforts can just as well end in bitter disappointment. Or in the Europa League for that matter.

As the competition reaches its highest spheres in spring, the number of travelling supporters usually increases. Depending on the teams involved, semifinal matches can easily attract a handful of charter planes or more. Some teams are known to the enthusiasts to bring out the best in terms of charter aircraft. Plus there are some dark horses which we will be looking at in detail as well in the future.

Another detail for a separate post is the final. It is the biggest annual one-day sporting event, straight after the Super Bowl. Therefore UEFA has its own logistics task force and a very complex concept for the logistics not only on the Final day itself. Supporters of the teams involved should be kept separate from each other, which is not easy if there are 20’000 or more of each team present. The increased media interest also means that there are usually charter flights for journalists travelling to Champions League finals. Even if no team from either country is involved in a final, there would usually be flights from Spain and/or Italy to the respective final city.

The 2015 Champions League final was played in Berlin, by FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin. But this Atlantic Airways Airbus A319 brought in guests from London.

Champions League football is a far cry from grassroots sport, where eleven friends would take a long train trip somewhere. These days, travelling for a Champions League club almost means taking the entire club away somewhere. Around 20 players, equal numbers of backroom staff, the higher representatives, the Youth League team, some media and sponsor people – these planes fill up quickly these days. And this is still before we have even thought about the fans.

The next post will be about the geography of the Champions League.