€1,000 ticket resale poses Problem for Ariana fans
ARIANA Grande fans were furious yesterday as tickets for her Irish gigs were being offered online for more than €1,000 after selling out in minutes.
The thank u, next hitmaker was scheduled to play Dublin’s 3Arena on September 22 as part of her Sweetener tour.
But massive demand led to a second concert being added for the next day.
However, that couldn’t prevent tickets selling out within minutes of going on sale at 10am.
Prices began at €77 for general admission standing, with seated areas starting at €82.
However, minutes after the rapid sell-out on Ticketmaster, Viagogo were spotted selling seated tickets for more than €830.
Meanwhile, a VIP ticket was advertised on re-selling site Stubhub for more than €1,190.
One fan wrote: “I’m 27 and nearly in tears because the Ariana Grande tickets are all gone already @ Arianagrande Please 1 ticket for me for Dublin.”
Another who missed out said: “#Ticketmaster I’m not happy, I’ll have to rethink them Christmas presents.”
A representative for Ticketmaster told the Irish Mirror: “It was simply a matter of supply and demand, even though a second show had been added.” IRISH passengers were caught up in the chaos at Gatwick yesterday as more than 110,000 people were stranded by rogue drone operators.
The South London airport was brought to a standstill with Army specialists called in to hunt down the culprits.
They were trying to pinpoint where the gadgets were being operated from over fears they could be controlled from as far as 8km away.
Dublin Airport Authority’s Siobhan O’donnell said last night only a small number of flights had been grounded there over the issue.
No planes went in or out of Gatwick as it had been closed all day.
She added: “Dublin Airport has taken two Norwegian Gatwick-bound flights which were coming from Los Angeles and Orlando.
“There have been eight cancelled flights at Dublin Airport so far today due to the issues at Gatwick out of a total schedule of 650 flights.”
Some 110,000 people were due to either take off or land at Gatwick on 760 flights yesterday.
Around 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night.
Irish woman Grace Lyons passed through immigration twice before being redirected to Stansted Airport.
The 32-year-old, who lives in South London, said: “It’s an absolute mess. I’m going home to Ireland and have very little time as it is, this has essentially cut two days off my family time.”
Richard MCC tweeted: “Ryanair my 9.40am flight from Gatwick to Dublin is cancelled and there are no available flights until Sunday, as per regulations will you find me a flight from a different London airport to Dublin? Or even to Belfast?”
Another traveller posted: “Hey Aerlingus, Any idea what’s going on? I just want to go home.
“Can you please let me know if there will be any form of compensation? As we missed a night in the Dean in Dublin [that was paid for] & other bookings in Dublin that we will now miss.
“We have been at the airport for 14hrs. I am missing valuable time with my
GATWICK YESTERDAY
Fed-up passenger waiting for news
family.” Aer Lingus advised passengers travelling to Gatwick to check their flight details before leaving for the airport, while Ryanair diverted flights to other airports in London.
The airline operated an extra flight last night in both directions between Cork Airport and Stansted.
Surrey Police said two “industrialgrade” drones capable of bringing down a passenger plane were spotted above Gatwick at 9pm on Wednesday.
They were treating the incident as “a deliberate act to disrupt the airport”.
British Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “The people who were involved should face the maximum possible custodial sentence for the damage they have done.”
It’s an absolute mess... I have very little time GRACE LYONS