Soccer fans hit with extra €16k bill due to cancelled f lights
UP to 80 Irish soccer fans based in Birmingham have been hit hard in the pocket after Ryanair cancelled a flight they had booked to see next month’s World Cup qualifier against Moldova in Dublin.
The dedicated fans said they will have to spend a minimum of €16,000 between them to cover an extra night’s stay, travel costs and food and drink.
The group, all members of the Midlands Irish Supporters Club, were set to travel on Friday, October 6, the day of the big match, but, as that flight was one of those cancelled by the no-frills airline, they have had to re-book on another flight and pay for a further night’s accommodation.
Trip organiser Paddy Foy revealed: ‘Ryanair will reimburse us for the cancelled flight but we now have to fork out for a second night’s stay in a hotel if we can get one.
‘Originally we were all booked into a hotel on the southside near the ground, but as we now have to fly in the day before the game they can’t help us as they are fully booked on the Thursday. It means the gang is now going to be split up all over the city if we can even all find somewhere to stay.
‘Dublin is a busy place most nights of the week, never mind in and around a big match, and when you add the costs of taxis from wherever we all end up, to where we are staying on the Friday, to the price of an additional night’s stay, it all adds up.
‘We are going to be down a couple of hundred euros each. The whole point of the trip is not to do it on the cheap but to do it as cheaply as possible,’ Mr Foy said, adding that some of the group have to take an extra off work as a result of the cancellation.
‘Ryanair have played by the rules, they were obliged to give us 14 days’ notice of the cancellation and they gave us 18, so they don’t have to pay for our extra night’s stopover, but just because they operated within the rules does not mean they are right.
‘It won’t be a problem spending another night on the ale in Dublin, but it’s something we hadn’t budgeted for,’ he said.
‘Normally, it’s the away games that cost an arm and a leg, this time around it is a home match that is proving expensive,’ Mr Foy added.