Irish football fans dreaming of travelling to Madrid for this year’s Champion’s League Final will have to fork out over €500 for a Ryanair flight.
The airline announced on Thursday that they will add an extra flight over on May 31 and return on June 2, for fans who wish to see the clash between Liverpool and Spurs but at an astronomical price.
The budget airline will charge €534.46 for a return seat, while the flight departing Dublin airport will set punters back €267.23 for over a two hour flight, and costing the same to come back home.
In comparison, a jaunt to the Spanish capital next Thursday and returning on Sunday would cost you €96.89 each way and a far more palatable total of €193.28 for a relatively last minute flight.
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Ryanair’s Alejandra Ruiz said: “Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur will come face to face in the final of Europe’s premier club competition and following strong demand from Irish Reds and Spurs fans alike, we’ve added extra flights. Our extra flights depart Dublin on 31st of May and returns from Madrid on 2nd of June.”
Reacting to the hefty plane price last night, Fianna Fail transport spokesperson. Robert Troy told the Irish Mirror: “The company is using this opportunity to maximize profits to benefit of shareholders at expense of genuine fans who will want to travel for a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“Obviously this is a supply and demand issue, where there is incredible demand, as a private company they are capitalizing on this.”
A quick flight search by the Irish Mirror reveals the price of a return flight to Madrid for the highly anticipated match costs nearly €20 more than a return flight to Washington DC with a competitor airline flying out on the same date.
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Other airlines are taking advantage of football fans with even UK supporters flying direct from London or Liverpool airports to Madrid are set to burn a sizeable hole in their wallets if they plan to travel.
Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham has accused another airline, easyjet which operates out of the city’s John Lennon Airport, of exploiting football fans - something the airport denies.
He tweeted he’d seen prices hiked by 683% which is “quite simply profiteering from the passion of football fans.
“This is nothing new but entirely shameful. This is not about “supply and demand”. This is about corporate profiteering at the expense of working people.
“Whether it is for major sporting events or during the summer holidays — hiking prices to this extent cannot be justified.”
