The logistical nightmare of getting athletes to the Olympics
Katrina Nicholas, Mary Schlangenstein and William Wilkes, Bloomberg News
Flying chartered is a luxury often reserved for rock stars and royalty. But China’s approach to Covid, with officials determined to stamp out the virus, means that most of the 3,000 or so skiers, snowboarders, skaters and bobsleigh riders descending on Beijing for the Winter Olympics next month will be arriving on specially arranged flights.
According to version two of the Beijing 2022 playbook — a 70-page guide for athletes and team officials to a “safe and successful Games” — air travel to China’s capital will be possible via charter, temporary and commercial flights. With the playbook also mandating that departures from Beijing be on temporary and charter flights only, and most commercial flights suspended anyway due to the pandemic, chartered is proving a popular option.
Delta Air Lines Inc., official carrier for Team USA, has reached an agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee to operate a single charter on an Airbus SE A350 to fly athletes and others to the Games from Los Angeles on Jan. 27. It will make a stop in Incheon in South Korea to refuel and change crew. Another flight has been agreed for the 2022 Winter Paralympics that start on March 4.
“This is unprecedented for the Games,” Delta spokesman Anthony Black said of the planned single charter. “No one has ever carried this much of a contingent to the Games on one flight.” The A350 is Delta’s largest plane, seating 306.
Special Services
According to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the two delegations will include about 300 athletes once qualifiers are complete, plus several hundred coaches, trainers and support staff. The committee is also overseeing separate travel arrangements for U.S. athletes taking part in international competitions in other countries prior to the Games.
Testing is another issue for Games participants coming from afar. The official playbook stipulates people must take two Covid-19 tests within 96 hours of their departure to China, and one of those two tests must be within 72 hours of departure.
Team Canada is flying in 109 athletes on two specially-arranged flights with Air Canada, whose scheduled Beijing route is suspended due to Covid. Teams from some of Europe’s biggest winter sporting nations are also traveling on chartered planes.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, owner of the flag-carriers of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, will fly those countries’ Olympic teams. Its namesake Lufthansa brand will transport the German team — placed second after Norway in the medals table in the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea — on four chartered Boeing Co. 747s from Frankfurt directly to the Chinese capital, a journey of around 10-and-a-half hours.
Austrian Airlines AG will fly the Austrian team, winner of the most downhill skiing medals at the 2018 Games, from Vienna to Beijing on chartered flights departing on Jan. 28 and Jan. 30. Swiss International Air Lines AG, however, will ferry athletes from Zurich to Beijing on daily scheduled flights ahead of the Games. Both airlines will use Boeing 777s, a spokeswoman for Lufthansa said.
The Finnish Olympic Committee has chartered direct flights with Finnair Oyj from Helsinki, FOC spokesman Mika Noronen said, while the Swedish team is also shunning the other option of so-called temporary flights.
Temporary Flights
Only 19 airlines have been permitted by Beijing to operate temporary flights, which ideally should transit through four preferred hubs of Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. For many nations, the 19 carriers aren’t practical. There are no U.S. airlines on the list, for example, and while some big players like Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Qatar Airways QCSC make the grade, they aren’t exactly from places renowned for winter sports. Ethiopian Airlines Group is also on the list.
“The cost of the flight is approximately 25,000 krona ($2,700) per person,” said Lars Markusson, media manager of the Swedish Olympic Committee. “The only thing that has been a little different with the travel bookings is that the flights didn’t become available until shortly before the Games begin, which was challenging.” Sweden expects to send around 110 competitors and at least as many support staff, Markusson said.
South Korea is sending only a handful of athletes across disciplines including curling and figure skating. For that, Korean Air Lines Co. will operate a total of four chartered flights through Feb. 21, using regular passenger aircraft as well as passenger jets that have been transporting cargo during the pandemic.
The airline said it has agreed to provide two chartered flights for athletes and delegates from the Czech Republic, without providing more details. The Czech Republic is set to take its biggest-ever team to any Winter Olympics, announcing a squad of 113 earlier this month.
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It's a long list of rejections from cities across Europe. Oslo and Stockholm are the two high-profile cities that pulled out during the bidding process. Krakow, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, also withdrew bids.
Two other areas with potentially strong bids — St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich — were rejected by the public in voter referendums. The German rejection was a stinging blow to Bach, who is from Germany. It's also notable that the IOC headquarters are in Switzerland.
Oslo and Stockholm, probably regarded as the preferred venues as the IOC attempted to return the Olympics to traditional European winter venues, pulled out because of costs and politics.
Norwegian and IOC officials also traded public barbs in 2014 about their dissatisfaction with each other.
Details of the IOC's demands upon bid cities for its members — including a cocktail reception with the King of Norway, use of exclusive road lanes, and specific requests for fruit and cakes in hotel rooms — were leaked, and described as “pompousness” by one lawmaker.
A senior IOC official retorted the decision to withdraw Oslo was based on “half-truths and factual inaccuracies.”
Bach acknowledged at the time in a 2014 interview that the Winter Olympics were a tough sell.
“The number of candidates for winter is already very limited by geography,” he said. “Also we can’t forget that this is a challenging time with regard to the world economy.”
Joshua Paul
It's a long list of rejections from cities across Europe. Oslo and Stockholm are the two high-profile cities that pulled out during the bidding process. Krakow, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, also withdrew bids.
Two other areas with potentially strong bids — St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich — were rejected by the public in voter referendums. The German rejection was a stinging blow to Bach, who is from Germany. It's also notable that the IOC headquarters are in Switzerland.
Oslo and Stockholm, probably regarded as the preferred venues as the IOC attempted to return the Olympics to traditional European winter venues, pulled out because of costs and politics.
Norwegian and IOC officials also traded public barbs in 2014 about their dissatisfaction with each other.
Details of the IOC's demands upon bid cities for its members — including a cocktail reception with the King of Norway, use of exclusive road lanes, and specific requests for fruit and cakes in hotel rooms — were leaked, and described as “pompousness” by one lawmaker.
A senior IOC official retorted the decision to withdraw Oslo was based on “half-truths and factual inaccuracies.”
Bach acknowledged at the time in a 2014 interview that the Winter Olympics were a tough sell.
“The number of candidates for winter is already very limited by geography,” he said. “Also we can’t forget that this is a challenging time with regard to the world economy.”
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The choice for the IOC members came down to two authoritarian governments that did not require any public vote, and also had few constraints on spending: Beijing and Almaty.
Beijing spent more than $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In promoting their proposals, organizers in Almaty at the time said 79% supported the bid. Beijing said 94.8% in China were in favor.
Almaty tried to win the vote, reminding that it was a winter sports city surrounded by mountains and natural snow. It was a dig at Beijing, which has no winter sports tradition and little natural snow in the areas picked for skiing.
Beijing and some IOC members countered that skiers actually prefer artificial snow. The IOC also saw Beijing as a huge winter-sports business opportunity.
Beijing won by four votes, which was described as much closer than expected, in a second attempt using paper ballots. A first attempt at electronic voting was scrapped citing technical issues.
IOC members chose what they believed to be the less risky option, which has not turned out that way.
“It really is a safe choice,” IOC President Bach said at the time. “We know China will deliver on its promises.”
The choice for the IOC members came down to two authoritarian governments that did not require any public vote, and also had few constraints on spending: Beijing and Almaty.
Beijing spent more than $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In promoting their proposals, organizers in Almaty at the time said 79% supported the bid. Beijing said 94.8% in China were in favor.
Almaty tried to win the vote, reminding that it was a winter sports city surrounded by mountains and natural snow. It was a dig at Beijing, which has no winter sports tradition and little natural snow in the areas picked for skiing.
Beijing and some IOC members countered that skiers actually prefer artificial snow. The IOC also saw Beijing as a huge winter-sports business opportunity.
Beijing won by four votes, which was described as much closer than expected, in a second attempt using paper ballots. A first attempt at electronic voting was scrapped citing technical issues.
IOC members chose what they believed to be the less risky option, which has not turned out that way.
“It really is a safe choice,” IOC President Bach said at the time. “We know China will deliver on its promises.”
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Getting down to two candidates — neither the top choices — shocked the IOC. It was part of the reason that the IOC no longer goes through a long bid process to pick host cities. Bach said at the time that the bid process produced too many “losers."
Moreover, it was embarrassing for the IOC to explain why voters turned down holding the Olympics — particularly the smaller Winter Games. The bid process was also soiled by scandals surrounding the awarding of the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, in which IOC member were allegedly bribed for their votes.
The bidding for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games was also hit by scandal.
Under the IOC's new process of choosing venues, the approximately 100 IOC members no longer vote. The choice is made by the leadership headed by Bach. The IOC has already chosen venues for the Olympics through 2032.
They are: 2024 Paris; 2026 Milan-Cortina, Italy; 2028 Los Angeles; 2032 Brisbane, Australia. The only open slot is the 2030 Winter Olympics, in which Sapporo, Japan, seems to be the leading candidate. The IOC has not indicated when that choice will be made.
Bullit Marquez
Getting down to two candidates — neither the top choices — shocked the IOC. It was part of the reason that the IOC no longer goes through a long bid process to pick host cities. Bach said at the time that the bid process produced too many “losers."
Moreover, it was embarrassing for the IOC to explain why voters turned down holding the Olympics — particularly the smaller Winter Games. The bid process was also soiled by scandals surrounding the awarding of the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, in which IOC member were allegedly bribed for their votes.
The bidding for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games was also hit by scandal.
Under the IOC's new process of choosing venues, the approximately 100 IOC members no longer vote. The choice is made by the leadership headed by Bach. The IOC has already chosen venues for the Olympics through 2032.
They are: 2024 Paris; 2026 Milan-Cortina, Italy; 2028 Los Angeles; 2032 Brisbane, Australia. The only open slot is the 2030 Winter Olympics, in which Sapporo, Japan, seems to be the leading candidate. The IOC has not indicated when that choice will be made.
The logistical nightmare of getting athletes to the Olympics
Carl Court/Getty Images North America/TNS
A Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logo is displayed near the perimeter fence on the grounds of the main press center on January 24, 2022, in Beijing, China. With just over one week to go until the opening ceremony, final preparations are being made in Beijing ahead of the forthcoming 2022 Winter Olympics. (Carl Court/Getty Images/TNS)
Carl Court/Getty Images North America/TNS
A Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logo is displayed near the perimeter fence on the grounds of the main press center on January 24, 2022, in Beijing, China. With just over one week to go until the opening ceremony, final preparations are being made in Beijing ahead of the forthcoming 2022 Winter Olympics. (Carl Court/Getty Images/TNS)
