European Athletics Championships
Transport partner for the European Athletics Championships
Munckhof was the official transport partner for the European Athletics Championships. As part of this partnership, Munckhof arranged transportation for all athletes, VIPs, official delegations, press representatives and officials to and from Schiphol Airport, the hotels, the training locations and the competition locations.
Good transport is essential for athletes
The organizers of the European Championships were looking for a transport partner to arrange transportation for all involved parties. Previous European Championships have demonstrated the importance of arranging excellent transportation to and from the training locations and the stadium. Our primary goal was to coordinate this process as effectively as possible. Due in part to Amsterdam's complex urban infrastructure, this request presented Munckhof with quite a challenge.
The transport plan as the starting point
Transportation was discussed in detail in the year leading up to the European Athletics Championships. The statistics from previous Championships held in Barcelona and Zürich were studied and analysed, and a transport plan was developed alongside the plans for hosting the event in Amsterdam. Throughout the process, we worked in close consultation with the municipality of Amsterdam to examine traffic conditions, detours, parking options and traffic flows. The definitive transport plan was completed three months before the event was scheduled to begin, after which we started focusing on implementing the plan.
Complex operation
Transportation for the European Athletics Championships was carried out with the help of 200 volunteers. These temporary taxi drivers were given detailed instructions from Munckhof and followed a short, intensive training programme. Agreements were made with car sponsor BMW for the provision of 100 electric courtesy cars and 120 coaches.
A temporary pop-up taxi company was set up next to the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Eight Munckhof planners were present to coordinate local transport at the Olympic Stadium and at Schiphol Airport. Supervising the volunteers and drivers and maintaining open lines of communication between the athletics associations and the organization was an extremely complex operation.
Looking back
Looking back, the organizers of the European Athletics Championships are pleased with the collaboration with Munckhof. 'We really enjoyed working with the Munckhof team, who made a significant contribution to the logistical organization of this unique event,' says Bob Schut, project manager at Stichting EK Atletiek.
Biljana Danicic, Senior Logistics and Event Coordinator of European Athletics: “We have been working with Munckhof on the occasion of the European Athletics Championships 2016 in Amsterdam, gathering approximately 10,000 participants (teams, media, VIPs).
We have been very satisfied by the level of services delivered and would recommend Munckhof to any company having to organise an event on a large - or smaller - scale.
The managers and drivers are very professional, acting quickly and accurately with solution-oriented personalities.”
Facts and figures
- The European Athletics Championships used 120 coaches every day
- Taxi transport was carried out with 100 BMW courtesy cars
- Munckhof supervised 200 volunteers
- Eight planners were permanently stationed at the Olympic Stadium
- The vehicles drove nearly 90,000 kilometres over the course of two weeks
- More than 35,000 kilometres were covered using fully electric vehicles
- More than 2,500 people were transported to Schiphol Airport the day after the closing ceremony
