Tomorrow evening will see the eyes of the wider footballing world descend on the Spanish city of Bilbao, as English giants Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur face off in the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League Final at the San Mamés Stadium. While Bilbao Airport (BIO) does have direct connections on certain UK routes, these alone provide nowhere near enough capacity to cater to the traveling fans.
As such, with tens of thousands of supporters expected to make the journey from the UK to Bilbao to support their teams in the big match, multiple airlines have either boosted their schedules or temporarily added new routes to cater to this demand. The scale of interest in such flights has ultimately seen capacity on these corridors collectively spike by a factor of almost 94%, underlining the demand.
Crunching The Numbers
Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX In Corfu
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
According to scheduling data recently made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, 66 flights are set to depart UK airports for Bilbao this week, representing a 94% increase compared to typical traffic levels. This will see a grand total of 12,587 departing seats made available on these routes (enough to fill Oxford United's Kassam Stadium), with 64 returning flights this week providing 12,357 seats.
Other airports are also seeing increased traffic, and Irish low-cost giant Ryanair is one of several that have got in on the act when it comes to serving the increased demand for flights ahead of the match on Wednesday. According to the airline, it has added 800 extra seats in the form of two round trips from London Stansted Airport (STN) to Vitoria (VIT), which is around 40 minutes away from the stadium by car. Ryanair Director of Communications, Jade Kirwan, explained last week that:
"Ryanair has added 800 extra seats between Stansted and Vitoria for fans travelling to watch what’s set to be an unforgettable 2025 UEFA Europa League Final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at the Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21st. Given the hype, we’re expecting these extra Ryanair seats to sell out fast, so head over to Ryanair.com to book yours now before they’re gone."
Diving Deeper Into The Key Figures
BA A321neo Landing In Corfu
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Of the 66 Bilbao-bound flights that are scheduled to depart from airports in the UK this week, Cirium notes that more than half (38) will be operated by Spanish low-cost carrier and International Airlines Group (IAG) subsidiary Vueling. Of these, 28 will depart from London Heathrow Airport (LHR), while eight will depart from London Gatwick (LGW) and three will depart from Manchester Airport (MAN).
The remaining 28 flights on this corridor are split evenly between the UK flag carrier and oneworld member British Airways and the orange-clad low-cost airline easyJet. As far as BA is concerned, the national airline's coverage is split between 10 departures from Heathrow and four from Gatwick, while easyJet has nine flights from Manchester, three from Gatwick, and two from Bristol Airport (BRS).
UK - Bilbao Seat Capacity From May 19th - 25th
Airline
British Airways
easyJet
Vueling
Total
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Manchester Airport Is Bathed In Red Ahead Of The Final
Manchester Airport Red Lighting
Photo: Manchester Airport
Away from Bilbao and Vitoria, San Sebastian Airport (EAS) has also been highlighted as an alternative gateway for fans traveling to the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League Final. According to Cirium, compared to just two last week, there will be nine BA Cityflyer flights (eight from London City and one from Edinburgh) each way between the UK and San Sebastian this week, offering 954 seats in each direction. San Sebastian Airport is located around 75 minutes from the San Mames Stadium.
Manchester Airport has also reported that it expects to handle increased charter traffic this week in conjunction with the big match in Bilbao, with more than 30 extra charter flights departing today and tomorrow alone. As pictured above, the facility has marked the occasion with spectacular red honeycomb lighting.