The US National Basketball Association (NBA) is working on leasing 13 customised VIP Airbus A321neo aircraft to transport teams between games in future seasons.
SMBC Aviation Capital, the Irish aircraft lessor, is expected to lease the aircraft to the NBA. Delta Airlines, which historically has run most NBA flights and charters, is expected to operate the aircraft.
Comlux has been awarded the contract to complete the VIP interiors at its Indianapolis facility.
Spokespeople for Airbus, SMBC and Comlux all declined to comment. The NBA did not respond to questions.
There are 30 teams in the NBA, but the league has worked out that these can be transported with 13 aircraft. It is looking to add two more teams in the future and could add at least one more aircraft to its fleet.
NBA rosters are capped at 18 players. The A321neos will also carry coaches, other staff and significant amounts of kit. An Airbus A321 can have up to 244 economy seats.
One person close to the transaction says that player welfare is driving the NBA’s decision.
The aircraft will have lie-flat beds and humidifiers to make travel as comfortable as possible. The average height of an NBA player in the 2023/2024 season was 6 feet 6.74 inches (2 metres).
Teams play 82 games between October and April each year. Half of these are away games and NBA data from 2018 showed that their players spend more time flying than other US sports teams.
Research shows that even with flights of less than six hours there is a greater risk of players performing badly and getting injured when playing. Some 54% of injuries in the NBA happen when teams are not playing at home. Teams flying west also tend to lose more games than when flying east.
The A321neo has customisable lighting that Airbus says can reduce jetlag and a cabin altitude of less than 6000ft (1828m) when flying at 30,000ft. It also has a 1,826 cu ft (51.70 cubic metre) cargo hold.
The Detroit Pistons began chartering aircraft to all their away games in the 1987 season with other teams soon following. Many teams already have their own dedicated aircraft including the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers.
In 2014 Nike and design company Teague announced a concept for a business jet interior targeted at NBA teams called Home-Team Advantage at 40,000 ft
A 7ft bed from Nike and Teague’s Home-Team Advantage at 40,000 ft concept
People involved in the transaction believe that other sports including the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Soccer could look at similar arrangements.