Final of the 2025 UEFA Europa League
Client
Bilbao Ekintza
Project
Designing and implementing a Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the international event, ‘UEFA Europa League 2025 Final’, in Bilbao.
Objectives
Efficiently managing the movement of over 100 fan buses during the 2025 UEFA Europa League final in Bilbao. The goal was to prevent the collapse of the urban mobility system and ensure a smooth experience for the 50,000 attendees. The solution was implemented in just two months and enabled the organization, automation, and supervision of the arrival, stay, and departure of vehicles, optimizing bus bay allocation, accreditation generation, and real-time tracking.
Ingartek Service
Planning, design, and implementation of a customised traffic plan and real-time mobility technology solution for an event with highly complex logistics.
Work completed
Context
The Challenge
The city of Bilbao hosted the final of the 2025 UEFA Europa League, an event that attracted over 50,000 fans, the majority of whom traveled from the United Kingdom. This massive influx of people presented a major logistical challenge: efficiently managing the arrival, stay, and departure of hundreds of supporter buses without overwhelming the city’s mobility system or blocking access to the airports.
Meeting this challenge required strategic vision, robust technology, institutional coordination, and flawless execution. In this context, Ingartek rose to the occasion with an innovative, transformative proposal: FanDepart.
Solution
The Solution: FanDepart, Smart Mobility Platform
Fully aware of the scale of the event and the tight timeframe available, Ingartek designed, developed, and implemented FanDepart, a digital platform created in just two months, including during holiday periods. The goal was clear: to organize, automate, and oversee supporter mobility through a centralized, intuitive, and effective technological tool.
FanDepart became the operational core for managing supporter buses, enabling agencies and tour operators to register their services, plan routes in advance, receive smart gate assignments, generate vehicle accreditations, and monitor operations in real time throughout the event.
Key Features and Results
FanDepart proved its effectiveness through clear operational metrics:
-
- 112 buses registered and managed through the platform:
- 46 for Manchester United supporters
- 66 for Tottenham Hotspur fans
- Simple, automated registration via an accessible system for agencies and tour operators, featuring a user-friendly, multilingual interface.
- A detailed user guide distributed ahead of time to ensure correct use of the platform.
- Personalized online training sessions for all operational stakeholders (Mobility Makers, airport staff, parking coordinators, etc.).
- A mobile web app and informative screens available to both users and organizers, which received over 4,300 unique visits after the final.
- A smart gate assignment algorithm that processed airport, flight, and scheduling data to enable fast, orderly, and efficient departures.
- 112 buses registered and managed through the platform:
Real-Time Monitoring Technology
FanDepart’s value lay not only in pre-event planning, but also in its real-time monitoring and control capabilities. To this end, Ingartek deployed several key tools:
SuperAdmin Dashboard (Power BI)
A dynamic, visual solution delivering real-time operational insights, including:
-
- Number of buses per club
- Arrival and departure schedules
- Associated flights
- Current vehicle locations
This dashboard was a critical resource for stakeholders, especially during peak operational periods.
Assignment Grid (Visual Map)
Designed to provide clarity and oversight, the assignment grid functioned as a visual map of available resources, displaying gate assignments 24 hours in advance. It also allowed last-minute manual adjustments in case of incidents or delays.
VAPs: Vehicle Accreditation Passes
The platform automatically generated vehicle accreditations to allow access to restricted areas. VAPs were sent by email and also made available for download directly from the platform.
Support System (Zendesk)
FanDepart integrated a user support system based on Zendesk. A total of 27 technical and operational support tickets were handled and resolved efficiently.
Institutional Coordination and Operational Success
One of the key drivers of success was seamless coordination with the various entities involved in the mobility operation, including:
-
- Bilbao Ekintza, as a key local stakeholder in urban planning
- UEFA, as the main event organizer
- Local transportation companies and security agencies
Smooth communication, real-time data sharing, and strategic alignment enabled the execution of an incident-free operation that met European standards for large-scale events.
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
FanDepart proved to be an effective, flexible, and scalable tool for managing urban mobility at major sporting events.
Its full development within just two months highlights Ingartek’s responsiveness and technological agility in the face of complex and urgent challenges.
The solution helped avoid congestion, improved the fan experience, and reinforced Bilbao’s image as a capable host city.
Future improvements under consideration include:
-
- Incorporating advanced geolocation and predictive analytics features
- Deploying a field team of Mobility Makers equipped with tablets
- Enhancing the mobile app’s usability for an even smoother user experience
