Opportunistic airlines cash in on sports fans' scrum for flights
Shamelessly cashing in on the back of a great national sporting achievement, Irish airlines are hiking up airfares for the weekend of the Heineken Cup Final.
Ticket-holders who contacted the Sunday Independent expressed anger at the extent to which airlines were increasing their fares, some by as much as 400 per cent, on the weekend of the match in Edinburgh.
On Friday, if you were to book with Aer Lingus to fly out on the morning of the match, May 23, and return the following night, you can expect to pay €400 per person for a journey that has a flight time of less than an hour. The following week the very same flight costs €108.41.
The Sunday Independent contacted Aer Lingus but a spokesperson failed to comment. If you were to fly with Ryanair to Edinburgh during the weekend of the match, it will set you back €344.84. Flying Easyjet from Belfast to Edinburgh will cost you £353.48 (€396.71).
An alternative to flying direct to Edinburgh is to fly via Glasgow, located 46 miles from Edinburgh, however, it actually works out more expensive. Flying with Aer Lingus to the Scottish capital will cost €467.94. Some Irish ticketholders are choosing to fly from Dublin to Newcastle with Ryanair, a trip that costs €344.84 each, but they will then be forced to pay at least £70 for a return train from Newcastle to the host city.
A Ryanair spokesperson denied they had received any complaints from aggrieved customers about exorbitant prices of its tickets.
Stephen McNamara said, "Most of our flights to Edinburgh and Glasgow [Prestwick] for the Heineken Cup Final were heavily pre-sold to Munster fans long before the end of the pool matches, at fares of €80--€100 return. Since many of these couldn't bear to watch the Leinster 'ladyboys' in Edinburgh we offer them the chance to cancel their flights and get a refund of up to €100 return".
Hoteliers in Scotland too are said to be cashing in, with some doubling their rates.
One aggrieved fan told the Sunday Independent how it worked out cheaper for him and his friend to get an all-inclusive deal with a tour operator rather than book flights with an airline and look for his own accommodation.
On May 27, Manchester United will face Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome. Flying there with Aer Lingus on the morning of the match, and returning the next day, costs €612.08 per person. The same flights the following week cost €178.48 return.
Ryanair flights leaving Dublin to Rome on the day of the final, and the day after, are sold out. However, if you were to fly on Tuesday and return on the Friday, the journey would cost €415.79.
An Irish tour operator who works in sports travel packages told the Sunday Independent that the price of the Champions League final packages skyrocketed overnight. "We reckon on the morning of the match when Barcelona played Chelsea, it cost €1800 (for the package), but once Barcelona won it went up to €2200. Barcelona and Manchester United are the two most attractive clubs in football and the best supported.''
- ANDREA BYRNE
