Estonia-bound fans battle to beat price hikes

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND supporters spent yesterday scouring the internet in a bid to beat the flight price hikes ahead of next month’s Euro 2012 play-off against Estonia.

As John Delaney’s grin suggested at yesterday’s lunchtime draw in Krackow, it was certainly the draw everyone wanted. But another key element is the fact that Tallinn is the only city of the four possible pre-draw destinations that can be reached with a direct flight from Ireland.

Ryanair’s service between Dublin and the Estonian capital Tallinn rocketed from €40 return before the draw place to €246 one-way yesterday.

A group of supporters in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, found a reasonably priced way from the north-west to Tallinn for the first leg fixture pencilled in for Friday, November 11.

“A lot of people were talking about travelling through London and there was a noticeable increase in the prices as soon as they draw was made,” Alan Foley, one of a group of seven supporters travelling, said yesterday.

“With that in mind, we focused on the other airports in the UK and eventually found a flight from Glasgow to Riga, which is the Latvian capital and four hours or €14 from Tallinn. Altogether, counting the initial leg of the trip from Derry to Glasgow, the return cost is €112.”