How ATPI Sports Travel mastered one of Canada’s largest logistics challenges: the 2025 Canada Games
3 hours ago
Managing complex travel logistics for major sporting events is what ATPI Sports Travel does best. At the 2025 Canada Games in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, our team faced the challenge of coordinating a movement on a scale rarely seen in Canada outside of military operations.
Over the course of two weeks of competition, 5,500 athletes, coaches, team managers, and officials needed to arrive on time and be ready to perform across 19 different sports. Behind the scenes, this meant moving 300,000 pounds of baggage and sports equipment, booking 11,000 seats on 83 commercial and chartered flights, and coordinating arrivals and departures through 15 different Canadian airports, all arriving at one destination.
The pressure peaked on Turnaround Day, when week-one athletes departed and week-two athletes arrived. Shelley Fleming, Senior Project Manager at ATPI Sports Travel, explains: “Turnaround Day is where the true complexity of an event like this comes to life. It’s about making sure every athlete has what they need, exactly when they need it, so the Games can keep moving without missing a beat.”
For ATPI, it wasn’t just about managing travel logistics; it was about creating confidence, removing stress, and allowing athletes and coaches to focus on what mattered most: the Games themselves.
The challenge: two force majeures at once
Despite 18 months of careful planning, ATPI Sports Travel faced not one, but two force majeures while on-site.
On August 11, a wildfire erupted less than 20 km from St. John’s. Entire communities were evacuated, and the second week of competition stood on the brink of cancellation. Within just 12 hours, backup plans were in place to fly the week-one athletes and staff home. Fortunately, shifting winds and dedicated firefighting efforts prevented the worst from happening.
Two days later, on August 13, another challenge hit. Canada’s national carrier announced a strike, putting 1,200 booked seats at risk, many of them reserved for Team Québec, Team Ontario, and Technical Officials.
“Everything was planned down to the last detail,” says Shelley Fleming. “ And then suddenly, we were faced with two simultaneous crises, one natural, one industrial. Each of them could have brought the Games to a halt. Together, they tested every ounce of our resilience.”
With fast decisions, trusted partners, and true team spirit, ATPI Sports Travel kept every athlete and official moving safely and on time.
The solution: fast response and relentless coordination
Over the course of 72 intense hours, ATPI’s experts worked around the clock to keep the Games moving. Two additional charter flights were secured to replace lost Air Canada inventory, while athletes, coaches, and officials were rebooked and rerouted across a patchwork of commercial and charter services. At the same time, oversized baggage and equipment, more than 7,500 items, had to be tracked and transferred, all while managing real-time communication between national sport organizations, Canada Games organizers, and airlines. “The speed at which our team came together to support the challenges presented was incredible,” says Shelley. “Our mission was simple: get every athlete, coach, and official to where they needed to be, on time and stress-free. We didn’t stop until that was achieved.”
The outcome: a skillfully executed Turnaround Day
Despite fire threats, a national airline strike, and a string of operational challenges, from delayed luggage to check-in system crashes and baggage belt malfunctions, ATPI Sports Travel delivered a flawless Turnaround Day at the Canada Games. More than 5,500 passengers transitioned seamlessly between weeks, every seat and bag was accounted for, and not a single athlete or official missed a competition.
As Jayne MacDonald of Diving Canada reflected, “You all pulled off a miracle that I wasn’t sure was possible. You all deserve a huge pat on the back. Thanks so much.”
Key takeaways
ATPI Sports Travel successfully managed one of the most complex logistics operations in Canadian sport: moving 5,500 athletes, coaches, team managers, and officials, 300,000 pounds of equipment, and more than 11,000 booked seats. Within the same week, the team overcame both a national airline strike and a nearby wildfire. In just 72 hours, alternative travel was secured for 1,200 passengers. The result: none of the athletes were stranded, and not a single competition was missed.
ATPI Sports Travel: where precision meets performance
“Our job goes far beyond booking flights,” says Shelley. “It’s about seeing challenges before they arise, solving problems at speed, and giving every athlete the freedom to focus on their performance, not the travel logistics. That’s what we do best.”
“From wildfires to airline strikes, we’ve proven that no challenge is too big. Discover how ATPI Sports Travel can deliver certainty, even in the most complex situations.”