Premier League domestic flights: BBC Sport research shows 81 flights from 100 games

The 100 fixtures studied included 82 Premier League games, 13 FA Cup fixtures with the Premier League squad playing distant from home, and 5 EFL Cup matches. BBC Sport analysed information from Flightradar24, cross-referencing from the UK Sports Aviation twitter account.

BBC Sport probe has recovered grounds of 81 short-haul home flights made by Premier League teams to and from 100 matches during a two-month illustration play this year.

Now, a survey of 100 games played successful the UK involving Premier League teams betwixt 19 January and 19 March 2023 has fixed the archetypal penetration into the measurement of the arguable journeys, immoderate arsenic abbreviated arsenic 27 minutes.

And for the archetypal clip the survey besides shows details of 'positioning' flights - wherever near-empty planes are flown to convenient airports, sometimes crossed the UK, successful bid to past transport players and unit to fixtures.

The survey suggests:

• 81 home flights by Premier League clubs (including instrumentality journeys)
• Of those 81 flights, the breakdown was 59 flights for Premier league fixtures; 16 for FA Cup games and six for EFL Cup matches
• The shortest formation was conscionable 27 minutes; the longest 77 minutes
• The mean duration of these 81 flights was 42 minutes.

BBC Sport contacted each Premier League clubs with the formation information.

In summation to these 'player movement' flights, the probe besides suggested a important fig of connected 'positioning' flights. The survey found:

• 37 of the 81 subordinate flights had a formation marked arsenic 'positioning' beforehand
• The longest 'positioning' formation was 84 minutes; the shortest conscionable 17 minutes
• The mean duration of the 37 'positioning' flights successful the survey was 42 minutes

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What astir these 'positioning' flights?

'Positioning' flights are wherever the level is getting into presumption to prime up up its backstage charter passengers. They are usually what the aviation manufacture calls "empty leg" flights - truthful without passengers and truthful suffice arsenic 'ghost' flights, a word progressively being utilized to picture immoderate formation with less than 10% passengers.

BBC Sport contacted the airlines progressive but received nary confirmation arsenic to the fig of passengers connected these flights.

The Premier League's astir southerly team, Bournemouth, flew to Birmingham airdrome and backmost connected the play of 17-18 March for their fixture with Aston Villa - a instrumentality travel totalling 73 minutes.

But the information pointed towards a further 4 'positioning flights' connected to this travel - 3 of which were to oregon from Scotland - totalling an further 201 minutes.

In summation to the 37 marked positioning flights, the BBC Sport probe besides observed instances of planes flying from 1 London airdrome to different successful beforehand of a subordinate formation - though not marked arsenic 'positioning' flights, it is truthful imaginable the existent fig could beryllium higher.

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The Premier League does not centrally mandate clubs' idiosyncratic question plans, but said successful a connection to BBC Sport that it "recognises the request to instrumentality enactment connected clime alteration and is committed to reducing its wide clime impact".

The connection added: "Clubs person demonstrated their committedness to affirmative alteration successful this country and proceed to play an important relation successful raising consciousness of the contented among fans, portion besides moving connected policies to amended biology sustainability crossed their concern operations."

Those policies, the Premier League pointed out, see much sustainable instrumentality question initiatives usage of renewable energy, and conservation projects.

The standard of the emissions

The Premier League pointed retired that successful the two-month play of the BBC Sport research, determination were much than 74,000 home flights successful the UK - putting the 81 Premier League nine flights astatine little than 0.1% of that total.

Arsenal told BBC Sport that "domestic flights of this benignant accounted for conscionable 0.25% of the club's full emissions for play 2021-22".

The biggest emissions are generated from stadiums connected matchdays and instrumentality question - which is the sport's biggest clime footprint. The Premier league connection said their enactment volition besides see "encouraging fans" to "consider how" they tin trim their ain c footprint."

However, Dale Vince, president of League One broadside Forest Green, often dubbed the world's astir sustainable shot team, believes successful bid to bash that the League and clubs should pb the way:

Vince said: "The c interaction is 1 thing… I deliberation the bigger interaction is the affectional one, the intelligence one, you've got Premier League teams mounting a precise atrocious illustration for the remainder of the country……when we are desperately successful request of getting to nett zero.

"This comes conscionable days aft the latest UN report that says we perfectly person conscionable a fewer years near to enactment to debar the worst of the clime crisis."

The Premier League person signed up to the UN Sport for Climate Action Framework and arsenic a effect are tasked with reaching Net zero by 2040. That was successful November 2021 but they are yet to corroborate their plans.

The connection added: "The Premier League is successful the process of processing an biology sustainability strategy, which volition acceptable retired plans to present clime action. As portion of this strategy, the League volition proceed to prosecute with and enactment alongside clubs and partners, to find applicable ways of reducing football's biology impact."

What are the factors?

Premier League clubs person been travelling his mode for years - mostly the quickest and astir convenient enactment which clubs reason gives players and unit maximum clip to hole and retrieve betwixt games, erstwhile the docket is progressively truthful packed with fixtures - thing the clubs person nary power over.

But it is lone recently, however, arsenic players started to often station images connected societal media of these abbreviated home flights, that it attracted accrued scrutiny successful an epoch of clime interaction awareness.

As this play shows, contention successful the Premier League is arsenic fierce arsenic ever - conscionable 4 points separates the bottommost 9 teams arsenic they scramble to enactment successful the part and reap the multi-million lb rewards.

With specified good margins and tremendous fiscal consequences, volition clubs truly hazard a imaginable disadvantage by opting for slower but much environmentally affable question to high-stakes fixtures?

Matt Konipinski is Director of Physio and Performance astatine Rehab 4 Performance and has worked with Liverpool, Rangers and Barnsley FC. He disputes the show argument, but does admit that successful a engaged docket clip mightiness beryllium the over-riding concern.

He said: "I deliberation carnal information is simply a information but I deliberation the mode of question doesn't needfully person a immense magnitude of technological enactment to warrant 1 versus the other.

"We're talking astir the options astir whether a squad mightiness fly, whether a squad whitethorn instrumentality the coach, whether a squad whitethorn instrumentality the bid and truly the main accent astir flying is velocity and the apical teams volition prioritise velocity implicit everything else."

There is nary erstwhile formation accusation to comparison play to season. However, clubs person told BBC Sport that this play the outgo of chartering planes has astir doubled arsenic a effect of some the emergence successful the terms of substance and decreased availability of planes aft the pandemic and Brexit.

With unit to walk wealth to pull amended players, positive the accrued absorption connected sustainability successful the game, galore clubs said the level is the past edifice - and that this 2022-23 play mightiness really spot a simplification successful flights from erstwhile years. And that is contempt moving issues with England's obstruction network.

Chelsea manager Graham Potter gave an honorable appraisal of the challenges facing football, saying: "I deliberation it's thing we progressively person to look at, due to the fact that I deliberation it's thing we person to bash amended with. It's my idiosyncratic opinion. That's not to says its straightforward due to the fact that determination are factors, but I deliberation it's an country we tin improve."

Nottingham Forest were 1 of the clubs who shared their afloat information with BBC Sport. A spokesperson said they anticipated utilizing flights successful 4 of their 23 distant fixtures this play and that: "the nine volition ever usage obstruction oregon roadworthy question unless determination are overwhelming logistical and sporting reasons not to bash so".

Many clubs notation fixture scheduling crossed aggregate home and European competitions and past changes made by broadcasters with costly TV rights - factors extracurricular their control.

An English Football Association connection added: "Establishing a much environmentally sustainable attack crossed English shot is precise important, and we promote everyone successful the crippled to assistance play their part. It is the work of each nine to marque their ain operational question choices crossed each competitions, including for Premier League, EFL and Emirates FA Cup matches."

Ben Chilwell, left, posting connected Instagram connected a formation with his Chelsea team-mates

Analysis: Why has BBC Sport done this research?

What shot does successful this country matters due to the fact that it is the world's astir fashionable athletics and has the imaginable to power truthful galore millions of radical each implicit the world. The Premier League is not lone the astir fashionable home league successful the world, it is besides 1 of Britain's biggest exports.

There is nary uncertainty that the much shot determination is the little accidental it tin beryllium genuinely sustainable, until thing important changes. While it is evident the shot authorities intelligibly don't power the clubs' question plans, it is arsenic evident to authorities that the clubs bash not power the schedules, truthful erstwhile does the circular statement break?

To that extremity this probe is intended to amended pass a statement that, up until present has excessively often focused connected 1 squad astatine a clip and been anecdotal, a rhythm from which galore deliberation it is intolerable to spot progress.

That includes acknowledging the comparatively tiny emissions we are talking astir but astatine the aforesaid clip giving credence to what Vince called an "example" and others telephone an "opportunity" for the powerfulness and power of shot to beryllium enactment to immense affirmative effect.

Sport has a agelong way grounds of bringing wider societal issues to the fore, and shot has a much almighty relation successful that than immoderate sport. A speech astir this home formation contented successful the satellite of athletics brings successful treatment astir the authorities of nationalist transport successful the UK, and the contiguous and aboriginal of aerial travel.

Why bash we not perceive the biggest names successful shot speaking up connected biology issues to large audiences similar they bash connected different issues? Is it due to the fact that we haven't been capable to advancement the speech successful football? Is it due to the fact that the emissions are not arsenic evident arsenic different sports?

It mightiness marque consciousness for F1 drivers to beryllium quiescent connected biology issues and yet we person Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg each speaking up. Where is football's 'world champion'?

*BBC Sport has had a Sustainability Strategy successful spot since 2021 which includes a nary home formation policy.