Football fixtures see flight costs soar by 290%

AIRLINES have pushed up the price of flights between Ireland and England by up to 290% in the days after the Premiership football fixtures were unveiled.

An Irish Examiner investigation looked at the price of return flights from Dublin and Cork to the five main English cities for Premiership football clubs.

Before the fixtures were unveiled on June 14, prices of flights to Liverpool, Manchester, London, Newcastle and Birmingham were as low as €27.48 return for weekend trips in August and September.

Yet just days after the fixtures were announced, these same flights had risen to as much as €229.83 return after the Premiership bosses unveiled the fixture list.

Premier clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and newly promoted Sunderland have a large Irish following.

Last night, Irish fans’ groups accused airlines of racking up prices the minute the English Premiership revealed the 2007-2008 season fixtures last week.

“We’re bled dry from every direction and we have no choice,” said Dubliner Eddie Gibbons, secretary of the Ireland branch of the Manchester United Supporters’ Club. “We used to go over by plane for years but we had to give up because the flights got so expensive: we now get the coach and a boat instead.”

The supporters’ club has cut a deal with Irish Ferries so fans can now get over to England more cheaply.

“There are lads who go to every home game and that’s expensive enough but if they flew over then the price would be double and they wouldn’t go to half the games,” he said.

Back in May, the Irish Examiner looked at air fares for the first six Saturdays of the football season but before the full soccer fixtures were known.

In May the price of a Ryanair flight to Liverpool from Cork leaving on August 31 and returning September 1 was €27.48 but yesterday this was €106.58, up 288%.

Likewise, rises are seen on flights from Dublin with fares to Liverpool now an eye-watering €229.83 return, to London €138.14, to Manchester €207.16, and to Newcastle €129.83.

Airlines like Ryanair and Jet.com yesterday insisted their prices were going up purely in line with demand for seats and not because of football fixtures.

But the Consumers’ Association of Ireland said the airlines were maximising their profits at the expense of football fans.