AIR CHARTER SERVICE STARTS TAKING BOOKINGS FOR UEFA EURO 2012

Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, has reported a very high demand for charter flights into and around Poland and Ukraine for this summer’s UEFA European football Championships. Head of the company’s German office, Alexander Hertle, commented: “We had initial enquires for charters to the finals as far back as October, but none of the nations knew where they would be playing their group games until December when the draw was made. Since then we have had constant calls from teams, supporters, sponsors and travel agents. We have even contracted an aircraft for the duration of the tournament for one group of fans.” Matthew Purton, Commercial Jets Director of ACS’s UK office, concurred: “We are booking a number of charters now to transport fans and teams to the tournament and, once there, from match to match. The competition is over a 3½ week period right at the start of the summer holiday season, so scheduled airline capacity is relatively low. The games are being played at eight different locations across the two countries and this is one of the major reasons charters are proving so popular. For some teams the distance between the host cities in the group stage matches is more than 600 miles, meaning that travelling by coach from one city to the next would be a long and arduous journey. The much more efficient and quicker option is to charter an aircraft, flying directly. “We expect a flurry of activity just before the knockout stages kick-off on the 21st of June, as the distance between stadia is even further and teams and supporters will need to prepare their travel for the latter part of the tournament.” Recently the company’s South Africa office was kept busy with charters for teams and supporters for the African Cup Of Nations.