THE PRICE of air tickets between Ireland and Estonia more than doubled within hours of the announcement of the Euro 2012 play-offs.
There was relief and delight among supporter soccer fans in both Ireland and Estonia after the names came out of the Euro 2012 hat and both sides realised that they had been paired with the weakest team in the other half of the draw.
It will see the Republic play Estonia in Tallinn on November 11th and then again in Dublin four days later.
While Irish fans breathed a sigh of relief that they had avoided Turkey and the Czech Republic, Estonians were as pleased to get Ireland instead of Portugal or Croatia.
However, fans from neither country are likely to be pleased with the price of travelling to the away legs – the cost of direct flights with Ryanair more than doubling within hours of the draw being made.
The good news for Irish football fans is that Ryanair flies directly from Dublin to Tallinn.
The bad news is that demand and prices rocketed once the draw was made.
Ryanair was selling return flights departing on Thursday and coming home on Saturday at a cost of €477.
This compares with a price of €168 for the same flights the following week.
Never one to miss a trick, the airline is also putting on a special return flight from Dublin to Estonia on Friday.
This action follows its reservations centre being “swamped with calls from Ireland fans”, according to airline spokeswoman Lesley Kane.
“Ireland was the best result for us,” said Toomas Ilves, an Estonian sports coach who has been working in Dublin for more than 10 years.
“Ireland is not the team it was even five years ago,” he said.
“Irish people are very sceptical and even when the team has achieved something like beating Armenia, people said it was just luck.
“This negative attitude gives us hope.
“And remember,” he warned, “Ireland will be under huge pressure while we have nothing to lose.”
Estonian ambassador to Ireland Mait Martinsson told The Irish Times he was delighted with the draw.
He said it was an “unbelievably positive one” and that the matches would do much to improve relations between the two countries.
