The international football break has seen us charter aircraft on behalf of several national football teams for the UEFA Nations League fixtures in Europe and international friendlies in North America.
One recent project involved charter flights for a South American national football team travelling to Canada and the USA for international friendly fixtures. The team based themselves in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and travelled to Toronto and Los Angeles for their matches.
Smart Aviation aircraft charter brokers Tom Pillings and Scott Harding co-ordinated the flight schedule, sourcing a Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the 2-hour flight to Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) and an Airbus A220 for the 4-hour flight to Los Angeles Airport (LAX).
With a typical capacity of around 189 (Boeing 737 MAX 8) and 137 (Airbus A220) passengers respectively, both aircraft offered adequate space and cabin comfort for the team’s 70 passengers on each leg and were operated by our trusted airline partners in Canada and the USA.
Tom and Scott handled all planning and operational aspects of the flights from our London office, ensuring all details were taken care of for a smooth travel experience.
Tom said, “The schedule required a carefully coordinated approach to ensure the team travelled efficiently to both cities for their games. We liaised with all parties on behalf of the team, including the airline, FBO and handling agents at each airport. We also liaised with local authorities in St. Louis to organise ground transportation, including a police escort.”
Thank you to our airline partners Flair Airlines and JetBlue for their co-operation on these charter flights, which all flew on time.
Smart Aviation was founded by our managing director Mark Hawkins, a sports charter specialist with over 30 years’ experience. Sport is a huge part of what we do at Smart Aviation – we follow the fixtures and monitor the draws to anticipate the needs of our sports travel clients, and our strong relationships with airlines and operators worldwide enable us to secure aircraft availability to supply charter flights to teams and supporters.
Our expertise in sports travel operations was further cemented in 2025 when Smart Aviation became a Partner Member of i.s.t.a.a. (International Sports Travel Agencies Association), joining a global network dedicated to advancing sports tourism. For aircraft charter enquiries, contact the team 24-7 on [email protected]
