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.

Champions League Charters - what it is all about

What it is all about

Let’s start with some good news: Football is slowly starting again after COVID-19, with major leagues like the Bundesliga coming back to the action and most probably the Spanish La Liga and Italy’s Serie A to follow. On the other hand, we still have not got an idea about the European competitions. The 2020 Champions League Final should have been played in Istanbul on 30 May 2020, but will not take place so soon. Hopefully UEFA will come up with some ideas fairly soon.

This of course gives us time to look at some basics about charter flights for the Champions League, which are in parts the same as for the Europa League of course. Part of the framework is given by UEFA and then there is the geography of Europe (plus neighboring parts of Asia, like Kazakhstan, Israel) plus the clubs’ demands. On the opposite side we have the airlines who may or may not have specific aircraft available for these jobs. All of this leads to an interesting mix of air operations that we get to see every two to three weeks usually.

Swiftair once operated this MD-83 on behalf of Real Madrid. The plane was seen in Madrid in December 2007, although at a time when the contract had already been terminated again. It had some operational limitations that did not please the players very much.

Over several postings I would like to spread some insights and observations, but also thoughts and of course the odd picture taken over the years. After all I have been lucky to welcome many Champions League charter flights myself when teams came to visit FC Basel at St. Jakob Park. I have also visited the airports of Munich and Berlin for the 2012 and 2015 Champions League Finals, which both yielded a good mix of passenger aircraft and numerous private jets. Now I want to take things back to the basics, so let us have a look at what is the Champions League and what its calendar looks like these days.

A plain normal Lufthansa Airbus A321? No, FC Bayern München arriving in Basel for a Champions League game in September 2010.

The basic idea of the Champions League is to create a football competition for all the national champions across Europe. From the 55 national associations that are part of UEFA, 54 usually enter their national champions. The exception is Liechtenstein, where FC Vaduz plays in the Swiss league system (as do the other clubs, but Vaduz are miles better than everyone else). Another 25 clubs take part in the competition as runners-up and 3^rdor 4^thplaced teams in their respective championships. This adds up to 79 regular berths, but only 32 clubs make it to the actual final competition. This is why there are no less than five qualifying rounds.

Qualifying starts towards the end of June, barely four weeks or so after the previous final (in “normal” years of course). The champions of the four bottom-ranked associations battle it out in two K.O. rounds for one spot in the first qualifying round. Three qualifying rounds with two-legged ties follow until the early crescendo that is the play-off round. Throughout the entire qualifying period, matches are played every week in July and August. Depending on your local team and its chances to qualify for anything in European football, this may already be the time to make hay.

Windrose Aviation sent this Airbus A320 for the Dynamo Kyiv team and staff to Basel-Mulhouse for the 2016-17 Champions League qualifiers. Dynamo played in Berne against BSC Young Boys, then runners-up of the Swiss Super League.

From September to December, the 32 qualified teams play six rounds of group stage games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Usually matches are held every two or three weeks. A gap of three weeks will normally be used for national team matches. Each team will have travelled three times at least by December. The planning safety of the group stage quite often means that travel arrangements are know well in advance. Also, scheduling measures are taken to avoid supporters’ clashes and congestion on airports.

From February of the following calendar year, the knock-out stages take place. In the round of 16, the group winners face second-placed teams from other groups. The third-placed teams play in the Europa League round of 32. The Champions League round of 16 is usually held across four weeks, two weeks each for the first and second legs, with an extra week in between. As you may have guessed, there is no practical reason to this, but just commercial reasons. The quarterfinals are held in successive weeks in April, while the semifinals usually happen towards the end of April and in early May.

The Champions League Final usually takes place in the second half of May, depending on the year. In odd years, there is more flexibility due to no national team competition that follows in June. Therefore a final in odd years can also be held in early June. In straight years, finals tend to be held as early as in the third week of May to comply with the compulsory stand-down rules for the national team players.

Busy times in Munich during the airlift for the 2012 Champions League final. Chelsea FC supporters arrived with many large planes, for exampe this Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600 or the Thomas Cook Scandinavia Airbus A330-300 in the background.

In its initial calendar draft for the 2020-2021 season, UEFA has outlined 46 days on which matches should be played. Whenever possible, matches are spread across Tuesday and Wednesday, even in the qualifying rounds. Unforeseen circumstances could even add more days to the calendar. For comparison, the first European Cup season in 1955-1956 featured 16 teams as opposed to the current 79. The scheduling back in the day led to 23 days with matches though, with one game even played on Christmas Day.

The maximum number of matches a team could play is 23, though it is highly unlikely that this will ever be reached. In the 2018-2019 season, Ajax played 18 games and only missed out on their 19^thwhich would have been the final by a Tottenham goal deep into injury time. Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade also had a long season, playing 14 games from the first qualifying round until the final group stage round. Finalists Tottenham and Liverpool played 13 games each. Across both European competitions, SL Benfica played 16 games.

So much for the scheduling basics of the Champions League. There are some more details to it, but these may feature in a later post. The next post will be about who is traveling to a game – and how.

BVB and Atletico return legs - Champions League 10-11 March 2020

10 March 2020

RB Leipzig vs. Tottenham Hotspur FC

The Spurs' supporters will travel to Leipzig on the match day, but will only return the day after. A Jet2 Boeing 737-800 will take them to Germany and back. (Thanks to Sam for the info).

BRO20 STN xxxx-1815 LEJ B733 (09/03/20)

LS6044 STN 0930-1215 LEJ B738 (10/03/20)

LS6045 LEJ 1100-1145 STN B738 (11/03/20)

Valencia CF vs. Atalanta Bergamo

AP5815 BGY xxxx-1225 VLC B738 (09/03/20)
AP5816 VLC 0030-xxxx BGY B738 (11/03/20)

11 March 2020

It promises to be a cracking night of European football when Borussia Dortmund will play their return leg in Paris and Atletico Madrid will be on visit to Liverpool FC at Anfield Road:

Liverpool FC vs. Atlético Madrid

Liverpool are playing one hell of a season so far and they really seem unstoppable, at least in the Premier League. The very busy schedule means that they may have to sacrifice the FA Cup enroute to league glory for the first time since 1990. But the quest to defend the Champions League title is still on. Atletico will travel to Anfield and many supporters look to make their way there as well:

PVG1903 MAD 1200-xxxx LPL B772 (10/03/2020)
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JQ5307 MAD 0800-xxxx LPL B738

UX941 MAD 0800-xxxx LPL B738

VY3068 MAD 0900-xxxx LPL A320

PVG7392 LPL xxxx-0315 MAD B752 (12/03/2020)
JQ5308 LPL xxxx-0320 MAD B738 (12/03/2020)

PVG2003 LPL xxxx-0405 MAD B772 (12/03/2020)

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VY3069 LPL xxxx-0505 MAD A320 (12/03/2020)

Paris St-Germain vs. Borussia Dortmund

While in Germany, the league has become interesting again, with a number of clubs still up and about in the top group, the same can not be said about France's Ligue 1. PSG is once again flying up top and is only occasionally getting challenged by the opponents. The Champions League is a different thing though and we should be looking forward to what this return leg will be able to offer us. Borussia Dortmund and its support cast will travel to Paris with Eurowings, as usual.

EW1909 DTM 1115-1215 CDG A320 (10/03/2020)

EW5247 DTM 1115-1215 CDG A320 (10/03/2020)

EW1909 CDG 1100-1200 DTM A320 (12/03/2020)

EW5250 CDG 1100-1200 DTM A320 (12/03/2020)

Barça and Man City on the move - Champions League 25-26 February 2020

25 February 2020

SSC Napoli vs. FC Barcelona

Off to Italy is the great FC Barcelona with Lionel Messi, though this game may come too soon for the injured Luis Suarez. Barcelona for once and rather unusually in recent times will travel with Privilege Style, though this has actually happened in the past as well. Fan charters have been planned so far with Volotea and Vueling:

PVG1899 BCN 1600-xxxx NAP B752 (24/02/2020)
ENT593 BCN 0800-xxxx NAP B738
VY4022 BCN 0800-xxxx NAP A320

VOE9250 BCN 0930-xxxx NAP A319

VY2616 BCN 0900-xxxx NAP A320

ENT594 NAP xxxx-0220 BCN B738 (26/02/2020)

PVG1999 NAP xxxx-0225 BCN B752 (26/02/2020)
VY4025 NAP xxxx-0230 BCN A320 (26/02/2020)

VY2508 NAP xxxx-1355 BCN A320 (26/02/2020)

VOE9251 NAP xxxx-0340 BCN A319 (26/02/2020)

Chelsea FC vs. FC Bayern München

There is yet no info online how the Bayern team will travel. But there are some fan charters know already, including a Sundair A320 and a SunExpress Germany B737-800:

EDIT: The Bayern team, staff & media will travel to Munich with Lufthansa, on one of their Airbus A350-900s.

LH2570 MUC 1055-1205 LHR A359 (24/02/20)
SR8724 MUC 0800-0900 STN A320

XG3921 MUC 0900-0955 STN B738

SR8735 STN 0205-0505 MUC A320 (26/02/2020)

XG3921 STN 0320-0605 MUC B738 (26/02/2020) 
LH2571 LHR 1030-1320 MUC A359 (26/02/2020)

26 February 2020

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

The English champions will face the Champions League record holders in Madrid first up. This occurs due to the fact that "City" won their group, while Real only finished in second place in autumn.

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ENT585 MAN xxxx-1155 MAD B738

VY2593 MAN xxxx-1405 MAD A320

ENZ829 MAD 1530-xxxx MAN RJ85 G-JOTR (27/02/2020)

ENT586 MAD 0045-xxxx MAN B738 (27/02/2020)

LS6043 MAD 0115-0250 MAN B738 (27/02/2020)

GNJ74 MAD 1600-1720 MAN B734 SX-ATF (27/02/2020)

VY2592 MAD 1625-xxxx MAN A320 (27/02/2020)

To the knockout - Champions League 18-19 February 2020

18 February 2020

Atlético Madrid vs. Liverpool FC

The knock-out stage will begin again where it all ended with the trophy last season for Liverpool FC. Atlético Madrid's new home ground Wanda Metropolitano hosted the 2019 final between Liverpool and Spurs. As it is quite often the case actually, supporters will depart from Liverpool as well as Manchester:

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BRO20 LPL 1500-1820 BCN B733 G-SWRD (17/02/20)

LS6037 MAN xxxx-1120 MAD B738
VY4203 LPL xxxx-0940 MAD A320
ENT559 LPL xxxx-1130 MAD B738
ENT555 LPL xxxx-1125 MAD B738

VY3069 LPL xxxx-1405 MAD A320

VY4116 MAD 0330-xxxx LPL A320
LS6038 MAD 0055-xxxx MAN B738
ENT560 MAD 1400-xxxx LPL B738
MLT857 MAD 1230-xxxx LPL B733
BRO020 MAD 1400-xxxx LPL B733
ENT556 MAD 1455-xxxx LPL B738

VY3068 MAD 1630-xxxx LPL A320

Borussia Dortmund vs. Paris St-Germain

The French giants travel to Dortmund, where a great atmosphere should be expected - and who knows, maybe Borussia bring their A game and make for a great spectacle in this first leg.

VLJ19BN LBG xxxx-1245 DTM E145 (17/02/20)
KLJ3274 LBG xxxx-1245 DTM B735 (17/02/20)
VY2608 CDG 0900-1000 DTM A320 (18/02/20)
5O855 CDG 0900-1000 DTM B738 (18/02/20)

VY2609 DTM 0920-1020 CDG A320 (19/02/20)
5O856 DTM 1110-1210 CDG B738 (19/02/20)

19 February 2020

Atalanta Bergamo vs. Valencia CF

Playing against Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donezk, Atalanta managed to proceed to the knockout stage with just seven points and notably after losing the first three matches. They will continue to play at the San Siro in Milan though, because their home ground in Bergamo is still not up to full UEFA standards:

YW2001 VLC 1700-xxxx MXP CRJX (18/02/20)

LAV5881 VLC 0900-xxxx MXP B738
VY2230 VLC 0900-xxxx MXP A320

YW2002 MXP xxxx-0325 VLC CRJX (20/02/20)
YV6235 MXP xxxx-0330 VLC A320 (20/02/20)

LAV5882 MXP xxxx-0340 VLC B738 (20/02/20)

Tottenham Hotspur FC vs. RB Leipzig

The Leipzig team will arrive at Stansted before their first ever knockout game in the Champions League, using a Titan Airways Boeing 757. Their supporters will travel early on matchday, leaving Leipzig at 07.00h already for an early arrival into Stansted as well.

ZT5031 LEJ 1300-xxxx STN B752 (18/02/20)
ENT529 LEJ 0700-xxxx STN B738
ENT530 STN xxxx-0600 LEJ B738 (20/02/20)

Rugby Champions Cup, 18-19 January 2020

18 January 2020

Lyon OU vs. Northampton Saints

The Saints have traveled to France with a chance to still make the quarterfinals as one of the three best second-placed teams in the competition. They will have to beat LOU with a try bonus point to stand a chance however.

ENZ751 BHX 1000-1250 LYS RJ1H G-JOTS (17/01/20)

ENZ992P LYS 1350-1530 BTS RJ1H G-JOTS (17/01/20, ferry flt)

ENZ752 LYS 2030-xxxx BHX BA46 (18/02/20)

Benetton Rugby vs. Leinster Rugby

Already qualified for the quarterfinals with just one bonus point gone beckoning, Leinster have traveled to Italy to face a familiar opponent in Benetton. Their flight took them to Venice however.

EI4424 DUB 1005-1345 VCE A320 EI-GAL (17/01/20)

EI4425 VCE 2000-2140 DUB A320 EI-GAL

Harlequins vs. ASM Clermont-Auvergne

The French runners-up of last season's domestic championship have assured their progress to the quarterfinals already, though they could yet fall back in the pecking order behind Ulster. A win at the Stoop near Twickenham (near Heathrow coincidentally too) would assure Clermont the group win and a better seeding position.

EUP421 CFE 1430-xxxx FAB E145 F-HBPE (17/01/20)

EUP421 FAB xxxx-xxxx CFE E145 F-HBPE (18/01/20)

Rugby Champions Cup, 10-12 January 2020

Rugby Champions Cup

The rugby equivalent of the Champions League is back upon us with round 5 of the group stages and no doubt some more teams that will qualify for the quarter finals now. Leinster already booked their place in the knock-out stages in round 4 and Exeter Chiefs, Racing 92 as well as Stade Toulousain could follow them this weekend.

10 January 2020

Atlantique Stade Rochelais vs. Sale Sharks

The English team has arrived in La Rochelle on Thursday afternoon using a Jet2 Boeing 737-800 that seems to know its way around rugby grounds. The very same G-JZHB had been used for another rugby charter in December already, taking Bath Rugby to ASM Clermont Auvergne.

LS6962 MAN 1130-1400 LRH B738 G-JZHB (09/01/20)

LS6963 LRH xxxx-1150 MAN B738 G-JZHB (11/01/20)

11 January 2020

ASM Clermont-Auvergne vs. Ulster

A clash of European heavy weights awaits the fierce crowd at the Stade Marcel-Michelin, with Ulster visiting the volcanic Auvergne from Ravenhill. Both sides are well clear of Harlequins and Bath, which means that both could actually qualify for the quarterfinals. Ulster is another team using Jet2 for their international travel this season.

LS6029 BFS 1345-1700 CFE G-JZHO(10/01/20)

LS6030 CFE 1800-xxxx BFS G-JZHO (11/01/20)

Glasgow Warriors vs. Exeter Chiefs

The English vice-champions are traveling up North to face Glasgow Warriors that is quite possibly looking at an early exit from the competition with just two wins from four matches so far and just the one bonus point on the table.

BE8001 EXT 1335-xxxx GLA (10/01/20)

Connacht vs. Stade Toulousain

The French record champions have finally found their stride this season domestically as well, despite a couple of rather surprising trip-ups against Toulon and Stade Français just recently. They will try to make sure to qualify for the quarterfinals with a win at the Sportsground in Galway, a ground that has become more difficult to travel to in recent years, with the nearby Galway airport no longer in use. Toulouse thus traveled on Thursday afternoon already, quite unusual for a Saturday game.

JQ5369 TLS 1400-1630 SNN B738 EC-NAB (09/01/20)

JQ5370 SNN xxxx-2335 TLS B738 EC-NAB (11/01/20)

Gloucester Rugby vs. Montpellier-Hérault Rugby

9V52AN MPL 1130-1400 BRS (10/01/20)

12 January 2020

Leinster Rugby vs. Lyon OU

FPO865 LYS 1330-1435 DUB B737 (11/01/20)

FPO866 DUB 1830-2130 LYS B737 (12/01/20)

Racing 92 vs. Munster

Munster is using a rather big plane for the trip from Shannon to Paris. Not sure how often a rugby team would use a Boeing 757 for a group stage game, but then again, sometimes Munster is just different.

LS6021 SNN 1040-1315 CDG B752 (11/01/20)

LS6022 CDG 2200-2235 SNN B752 (12/01/20)