Ryanair boss denies price-gouging soccer fans ahead of World Cup play-offs in Prague

Eva Osborne

Ryanair's Michael O'Leary has refuted claims that his company are engaging in price-gouging customers heading to the World Cup play-offs in Czech Republic.

Many fans rushed to book flights to and from Prague for next March, only to find that they are costing hundreds of euro more than usual.

The game will take place on Thursday, March 26th. At the time of writing, a football fan looking to fly into the Czech Republic capital with Ryanair the day before the game (Wednesday, March 25th) would pay €432 one way.

A return flight on the Saturday (March 28th) costs €475.

To compare, flying to Prague on a Wednesday and returning on a Saturday in January would cost €75 round-trip.

The Labour Party has condemned the price hikes, and Fine Gael's Mark Duffy has said regulators should examine if the increases are compliant with consumer law.

Speaking on Newstalk, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said he could not believe what he heard.

"I nearly crashed the car on the M4 this morning listening to that interview. He couldn't be more wrong. We have a daily flight to Prague. All the remaining seats on those daily flights on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all sold out," he said.

"We had an extra 15 flights going out to Prague and returning from Prague that week.

"Now, the reality of those flights is that the returns are empty. If we really wanted to price-gouge people, we would've added one or two extra flights. We added 15 extra flights.

"The extra flights that we have from Dublin going to Prague in the three days before the match will all come back empty. And it's a two-and-a-half-hour flight.

"The extra return flights on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that we have to bring fans back from Prague, those outbound flights to Prague will be empty. So, yes, the fares are higher, but people have to understand that it is cutting the cost of what is basically empty legs."

'Blatant opportunism'

Fine Gael senator Mark Duffy has described the action by airlines like Ryanair and Aer Lingus as blatant opportunism.

To fly into Prague with Aer Lingus on a Wednesday in February, at the time of writing, would cost €41.50. To fly back out on a Sunday would cost €186, making the total spent on flights €227.

To compare, a soccer fan looking to fly in on the Wednesday before the game and fly out on the Saturday could be paying up to €470 for the outbound flight and €397 for the inbound one. This makes for a total cost of €867 for flights.

Duffy said: "Irish soccer fans are being unfairly punished and penalised for their passion and loyalty. This is deeply disappointing as the fans should be celebrated, not exploited.

“I’m calling on the airlines to reconsider the increases and show respect to the thousands of Irish soccer fans who want to stand with our national team in Prague.

“Regulators should examine whether sudden fare increases are consistent with consumer protection laws, given the scale of the increases.

“In some cases the fare more than doubled in the space of a half an hour, this cannot be justified in a normal and fair market.”