Shelbourne Football Club last night expressed scepticism at Ryanair's special flight offer to Spain for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League tie against Deportivo La Coruna on Tuesday week.
Ryanair yesterday announced its "Shelbourne Soccer Special" once-off deal. Shelbourne held Deportivo to a scoreless draw in the first leg at Lansdowne Road on Wednesday.
The airline said its flight, to cost €299 return plus tax, will leave Dublin at 9.50 a.m. on the morning of the match on August 24th, arriving at Santiago de Compostela at 1 p.m. It will return at 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
Shelbourne FC press officer Mr Terry O'Neill said yesterday: "To be honest, it seems as if this could work out costing a lot of money for a very short trip. The flight alone is going to cost over €300, plus your transfer from Santiago to La Coruna.
" I checked it out, thinking they would be offering one of their low fares. It's definitely not a bargain."
Ryanair's head of communications, Mr Paul Fitzsimmons, denied the flight represented bad value. "To anyone who thinks that, I would say: by all means check out Iberia and pay three times the amount we're charging, and then pay more for two nights' accommodation in Spain."
