Arsenal and Chelsea fans fume with Thomas Cook set to charge supporters ‘rip off’ £1,000 for flights to Baku excluding match ticket
The Gunners and the Blues face each other in the Europa League final on May 29 - 2,468 miles from London
THOMAS COOK have incurred the wrath of Arsenal and Chelsea fans with the airline offering return economy flights to Baku for almost £1,000.
Supporters of the clubs will have to travel a whopping 2,468 miles from London to the capital of Azerbaijan - the stage of the Europa League final on May 29.
Fans have already been left fuming with both teams receiving just 6,000 tickets each - despite the Baku Olympic Stadium boasting a capacity of just under 70,000.
And Uefa further angered the supporters after declaring the small ticket allocation is due to the fact that the airport can't handle an influx of 15,000 people arriving into the country.
Baku only has three direct overnight flights running from Heathrow airport - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 10.05pm with Azerbaijan Airlines.
But fans face a nightmare journey on their hands, with the Tuesday, May 28 flight - the day before the final - sold out, along with the return to London on Thursday.
And the Arsenal and Chelsea faithful will have to fork out £979 per person - excluding the match ticket - for a return to Baku if they fly with Thomas Cook Sport.
Commenting on the ludicrous price, one angry fan tweeted: "Thomas Cook offering £979 for a day trip to Baku. Right b*******."
Another quipped: "£1000 to Baku with Thomas Cook + spending money & ticket & Renew S/T £900 all by May 15th Roman must think we are as rich as him."
While another said: "I love watching Arsenal, but I can’t stomach paying £979 for the Thomas Cook Sport service to Baku."
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One simply stated: "Thomas Cook shares up 9% this morning since announcing their travel arrangements to Baku for fans."
Another commented: "Thomas Cook are charging just shy of a grand for a flight to Baku (day trip), so maybe 6,000 is plenty. Unless everyone is made of money."
While one added: "Yeah the official Chelsea members Thomas Cook package is £1000 for a DAY trip to Baku, with 2 indirect flights, stopping over in Istanbul. Just a farce."
Though the airline has since stated that the reason for the price is that the summer season starts in May, which means there are more aircraft in use, with less planes available to charter.