The rescheduled finals of the 2020 UEFA soccer tournament begin on June 11, with 51 games to be played in 10 European cities through July 11. The event, for which reduced numbers of spectators are to be admitted to stadiums, is expected to generate significant volumes of business aviation traffic.
The host cities for the tournament extend from Azerbaijan's capital Baku in the east to London and Glasgow in the UK. Other venues include Rome, Saint Petersburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Seville, and Munich.
As part of its preparations for the tournament, flight support group Universal Weather & Aviation has released a blog detailing what aircraft operators should expect for the games being played at London's Wembley stadium. The stadium is hosting European championship games for the first time since 1996.
Even with tickets restricted to 25 percent of the stadium’s capacity, Universal is expecting pent-up demand for travel. Combined with lessening Covid restrictions, the company believes this will spur high demand for business aviation services during that span.
On May 17, the UK implemented a new Red, Amber, and Green country classification system, with the U.S., Canada, and many EU countries relegated to the amber list, which requires a mandatory 10-day quarantine for travelers entering from those areas, including British citizens returning from Amber-list countries. Plans for the lifting of all Covid restrictions in the country on June 21 appear to be in jeopardy due to the continuing spread of virus variants.
With regards to the best airport options for operators heading to the tournament, Universal suggests from closest to the stadium: Northolt, Luton, Stansted, or Farnborough.