Footie Final Frenzy

As the Europa and Champions League tournaments reached a dramatic crescendo, airports across England handled tens of thousands of football fans. Gordon Smith reviews some of the more unusual aircraft laid on for fans heading to the must-see matches.

The prospect of an all-English team final in both the Europa and Champions League was simply too compelling a proposition to miss for thousands of footie fans. In late May and early June, dozens of additional flights were handled at key airports across the country as supporters travelled to attend the two major football finals.

London/Stansted forecasted one of the busiest weeks of the year with huge numbers boarding special services on top of its regularly scheduled flights. Among the most notable of these was the airport’s first Airbus A380 passenger rotation, which took Arsenal and Chelsea fans to the Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Become a Premium Member to Read More

This is a premium article and requires an active Key.Aero subscription to view.

I’m an existing member, sign me in!

I don’t have a subscription…

Enjoy the following subscriber only benefits:

  • Unlimited access to all KeyAero content
  • Exclusive in-depth articles and analysis, videos, quizzes added daily
  • A fully searchable archive – boasting hundreds of thousands of pieces of quality aviation content
  • Access to read all our leading aviation magazines online - meaning you can enjoy the likes of FlyPast, Aeroplane Monthly, AirForces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, Aviation News, Airports of the World, PC Pilot and Airliner World - as soon as they leave the editor’s desk.
  • Access on any device- anywhere, anytime
  • Choose from our offers below