With the draw announced for this year’s highly anticipated World Cup in Qatar in November, and travel restrictions continuing to ease around the world, anticipation is building for an exciting line-up of sports events for sports fanatics and spectators this summer.

After several years of emptier stadiums and spectator-free events such as the Winter Olympics, optimism is growing for a blockbuster summer of sport across the world at key sporting events such as Wimbledon in London, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the PGA Gold Tour Championship and US Open in the United States.

Air Partner, the global aviation services group and specialists in private jets and charter, has seen an increase in enquiries in group charter flights, from groups such as corporates, sports fans and families to watch key sporting events, take in the atmosphere and get closer to all the exciting sporting action.

Air Partner’s charter flights are customised to each team or group, providing on-site and on-board representatives who closely monitor the entire operation and assist with anything the group needs during boarding, flight, and de-boarding. Elevating the experience, Air Partner also handles private terminal operations to avoid main terminal delays and ensure a faster, more efficient trip.

With bookings for leisure and business travel rapidly recovering, groups are making up for lost time and organising unforgettable trips to show support for their beloved sports teams whether a local sport or elite international competitions. According to recent data from The International Air Transport Association (IATA), global passenger volumes increased by 115.9% in February 2022 compared to February 2021, a significant improvement in business and leisure travel and confidence in travelling.

Clive Chalmers, Vice President, Charter UK at Air Partner said: “From the European and UK charter perspective, we’ve seen an increase in enquiries for flights for sporting events such as pre-season tours and the knock-out stages of tournaments such as the Champions League and the Europa League. Now the finalists for both tournaments are known, we have spent the last week booking aircraft charters to Paris and Seville respectively to service the demand to attend these finals towards the end May.

We have also started to see increased confidence in bookings for pre-season tour matches, but we are also expecting a strong uptick in demand in the run-up to the Qatar World Cup to the Middle East from sporting fans, multi-generational families and corporate clients for the most exciting event of the sporting calendar in 2022.”

Simon Moore, Senior Vice President, Group Charter at Air Partner USA said: “With sporting events resuming this year, we expect to see a rise in requests and bookings, especially for major events. We’ve already been seeing a wide variety of enquires come in from pro sports to collegiate athletic departments to touring and more. These teams and groups are increasingly finding themselves needing more specialized and hands-on logistics planning that Air Partner is uniquely able to provide. Due to our customization capabilities, we’ve been able to meet the performance and delivery requirements that ensure safe and timely travel for important training, season games, and tournament matches.”