Air Charter Service: Euro 2016 charter fever nears take off

With Euro 2016 fast approaching, leading aircraft charter provider, Air Charter Service, prepares for an extremely busy period and the fruition of months of work, having already booked more than 20 aircraft to fly to the championships.



The company has been busy with enquiries since the end of last year and started booking aircraft straight after the group draw in Paris on 12th December, as ACS’s Group Commercial Director, Matt Purton, explains: “Tournament business, whether it be a Euro Championship or a World Cup, always starts in earnest in the December straight after the group draw is made.

"We have booked more than 20 aircraft for teams, fans and sponsors for the group stages alone and will no doubt be exceptionally busy as soon as it becomes clear who will progress to the Round of 16. 



“When the knock-out stages start it becomes even more frantic. In the past we have had fans phoning from the stadium as soon as the final whistle blows to book their flight for the next round. With France being fairly central to Europe, we’re seeing a lot of day trips being planned. Flying in the morning, soaking up the atmosphere around the ground, enjoying the match and flying home directly afterwards. The beauty of flying on a chartered flight is that, even if the match should go to penalties, the aircraft is still there waiting for you.



“With the threat of pilot strikes from one major scheduled airline, we have seen a rise in enquiries this week from groups that want to ensure they don’t miss their team’s first match by chartering instead of flying on a scheduled service.”