England fans hoping to be in Berlin for Euro 2024 final face flight struggle
Many flights are sold out and airlines with spare capacity are charging five times more to travel before the game.
England football fans wanting to travel to Germany for the Euro 2024 final face a struggle to book flights and soaring air fares.
Tens of thousands of supporters are expected to be in Berlin for England’s match against Spain on Sunday.
British Airways said it is hoping to put on additional flights and use larger aircraft after receiving a surge in demand following the semi-final victory on Wednesday night.
Analysis by the PA news agency found many flights are sold out and airlines with spare capacity are charging five times more to travel before the game compared with a week later.
All of Ryanair’s 21 flights from UK airports to Berlin between Thursday and the final are sold out.
EasyJet’s 12 flights to Berlin from Birmingham, Bristol, Luton and Gatwick between Friday and the match are also fully booked.
The airline was charging £918 for a seat on a flight from Gatwick to the German capital on Thursday night – compared with £167 a week later – but that service was later sold out.
At the lower end of the scale, the carrier has flights from Manchester to Berlin for £134 on Thursday night and £179 on Friday night.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Since the final whistle last night easyJet has seen an increase in demand for flights to and from Berlin.
“Although we don’t artificially put fares up, our pricing is demand-led.
“This means that as quick-thinking football fans booked seats the lower priced fares sold out, however easyJet continues to have availability for direct flights between now and Sunday from the UK to Berlin in time for the game from just over £100, in addition to options for connecting flights via easyJet Worldwide.”
BA is charging £782 to fly from Heathrow to Berlin on Saturday night.
Travelling on a flight at the same time a week later costs just £224.
Neil Chernoff, BA’s chief planning and strategy officer, said: “Between 10pm and 11pm on Wednesday we saw a 1,000% increase in searches for flights to Berlin on our website, and we’re currently looking at putting on additional flights and changing the aircraft type to bigger jets to accommodate as many fans as possible over the coming days.
“It’s a huge game and everyone at British Airways hopes England can get over the line and bring it home.”
Hotel prices in Berlin have also rocketed.
A one-night stay at the Holiday Inn Berlin City Centre East P-Berg costs £345 on Sunday night, but just £105 seven days later for the same type of room.
The Courtyard Berlin City Centre is charging £606 for Sunday night in its cheapest available room, but only £137 the following Sunday when more basic rooms are on sale.
Many supporters who have not already purchased a match ticket are unlikely to obtain one as the game is sold out on Uefa’s website.
A limited number of tickets are available to England Supporters Travel Club members who have been to a number of previous England matches.
