BUMPER YEAR OF SPORT TO BOOST AIR CHARTER INDUSTRY IN 2021
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ports travel is pped to be the fastest-growing sector in the air charter industry in 2021 thanks to a bumper year of high-profile events plus new health protocols imposed by governing bodies and federa ons. Major events postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020, including the Olympics, golf’s Ryder Cup and soccer’s Euro 2020 and Copa America, have been moved back 12 months. That means squeezing them into a calendar which already included an Ashes cricket tour, a British Lions rugby tour, a T20 Cricket World Cup and the usual array of Super Bowl, tennis Grand Slams, NBA Finals, Champions League, Premier League and golfing majors. The hope in the air charter industry is that teams, corporate sponsors and even fans (once they are eventually allowed back into stadia) will choose
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to charter rather than travel with a scheduled airline in a bid to have greater control over mings, des naons and health risks. At Chapman Freeborn, a global aircra charter specialist which was first established in 1973, the opportunity has prompted the appointment of its first ever Group Director of Sport. Former cricketer Nick Lamb (pictured ) took on the role in August 2020 and has high hopes for the future. “When you look at the schedule, 2021 has the poten al to be a fantas c year for sport and also for our industry,” he said. “Chapman Freeborn has been heavily involved in sport before, but we see it as poten ally the fastest-growing sector in the charter industry with real room for growth.” It is not only the number of major tournaments taking place which provides an opportunity for passenger air charter. The Covid-19 pandemic has
led to sports teams and organisa ons being far more aware of the health risks around travel and determined to keep their players in a bubble. Nick added: “Only recently UEFA, the governing body for European football, provided a long list of protocols for teams travelling to Portugal for the Champions League quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. “It included an edict that the use of charter flights was ‘strongly recommended’, which highlights the way forward for sports teams when travelling abroad. “The benefit for teams, and for sports organisa ons, federa ons and corporate sponsors, is that chartering a flight enables people to stay together in their bubble without the need for public interac on at the air terminal or on the plane.
