Brits prepare for flight delays this weekend as English fans travel to Madrid

This Saturday the UEFA Champions League Final will be held in Madrid, with two English teams Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur battling it out to rule Europe.

With the amount of fans expected to make the journey to the game, the Air traffic control (ATC) provider NATS has warned of long delays and disruption as thousands of fans make their way to the Spanish capital.

It is expected that around 9000 individual charter and private flights will be recorded over Friday and Saturday leading up to the final, making it potentially the busiest May day on record for UK airspace.

A NATS spokesman said: “With two English teams contesting the title we’re expecting to handle up to 800 extra flights between Friday and Sunday, ferrying tens of thousands of fans to the Spanish capital and back, with Madrid airport themselves expected to handle a record number of flights, with over 1,100 biz-jet and 400 charter movements planned over the three days.

“We’re expecting around 400 additional charter flights – which will include airlines moving aircraft around to get them in the right place – and then over 200 private jet movements. And that’s on top of the 8,000+ flights we’d handle on a normal May day.”

Last Friday, had been forecast to be the busiest to date at 8,742 flights taking place but fell just short of the record at 8,854 set on May 25 2018.