Kolkata: India has never figured in the Fifa World Cup fixtures, and it probably won’t in the foreseeable future, but that has never stopped soccer crazy Indians, especially those from the city, from travelling to the farthest corners of the globe to be a part of this mega soccer carnival.
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That this World Cup is relatively closer home in Russia — the last one was 16,000 km away in Brazil while Russia is only 4,500 km away— has prompted many more fans to make a dash for the quadrennial event.
However, it’s the early birds who planned and made bookings in advance that are having a ball. The rest are feeling the heat from the airfares that are on fire.
Ratul Chaudhury, a Brazil fan and owner of a modest trading business, is one of them. When his friends booked their hotels and flights a couple of months ago for the World Cup, Ratul’s mother was hospitalised so he couldn’t be sure if he would be able to travel. But now that she has recovered and Ratul can join the gang, the rush for Russia has airfares shooting through the roof.
The Delhi-Moscow return fare on Russian flag-bearer Aeroflot has jumped by a whopping 160% in the past month going from Rs 25,645 in May to Rs 66,070 this month. The fares from Kolkata of other airlines, too, have risen by 80-90% and the prices of return flights from Delhi have doubled.
16/06/18 Times of India
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graph
That this World Cup is relatively closer home in Russia — the last one was 16,000 km away in Brazil while Russia is only 4,500 km away— has prompted many more fans to make a dash for the quadrennial event.
However, it’s the early birds who planned and made bookings in advance that are having a ball. The rest are feeling the heat from the airfares that are on fire.
Ratul Chaudhury, a Brazil fan and owner of a modest trading business, is one of them. When his friends booked their hotels and flights a couple of months ago for the World Cup, Ratul’s mother was hospitalised so he couldn’t be sure if he would be able to travel. But now that she has recovered and Ratul can join the gang, the rush for Russia has airfares shooting through the roof.
The Delhi-Moscow return fare on Russian flag-bearer Aeroflot has jumped by a whopping 160% in the past month going from Rs 25,645 in May to Rs 66,070 this month. The fares from Kolkata of other airlines, too, have risen by 80-90% and the prices of return flights from Delhi have doubled.
16/06/18 Times of India
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