Airlines make a gold rush as fans fly to Australia for the World Cup semifinal - India Today

Organisers say no tickets are available and the SCG will be packed to its full capacity. It seems all air routes are converging in Australia. With the cricket fever catching up one and all in India, travellers from this cricket-crazy nation are rushing for flight tickets to Down Under. And the airlines are making the most of the season.

While some of the outbound Indian travellers have reached Australia, there are others who are waiting due to various reasons - from availability of flight seats to visa-related issues.

As India takes on Australia in the cricket World Cup semifinal on Thursday in Sydney, top-notch Indians will be cheering for the country at the famous Sydney Cricket Ground or SCG. From corporate czars to business honchos to families of Indian cricket team to former cricketers, Bollywood stars and the like - they all have reached the Australian city over the last few days and they shall be at the SCG, holding the Indian Tricolour. Sources in the IGI Airport in Delhi told MAIL TODAY that many top bureaucrats also flew to Sydney in the last few days.

High cost According to travel agents in Delhi, booking of flight tickets for Australia began as early as September of 2014. The flight tickets were then available for `56,000 to `60,000. "Today, even at `1.2 lakh, no airline can assure you a ticket," said a travel agent associated with yatra.com.

According to sources, a certain airline is operating nearly a dozen flights to Sydney and Melbourne. Other airlines have also increased number of flights on Delhi-Australia routes.

Thousands of Indian supporters from the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and other countries have also landed in Australia to cheer for M.S. Dhoni and his men in blue. Australian media has said that Indian fans are all set to turn the SCG into a "sea of blue" on Thursday.

Fans cheer for the Men In Blue before the important clash. Deep pockets While the Indian fans are shelling out Australian $150 to $400 for ordinary seats at the SCG, there are those who don't mind spending $2000 to $5,000 for the corporate boxes at the cricketing venue.

The Singapore Airlines, which flew the Indian cricket team, seems to have attracted most of these fans who have flown to Australia. "The wives and girlfriends of the Indian cricketers, BCCI officials and the commentators have flown to Australia by Singapore Airlines," said Gerald Tan, the PR manager with the airlines

"We fly from 11 points across India and we have more than 100 flights per week to six destinations in Australia. This makes us an obvious choice. More than 2,000 people have flown just for the World Cup from India," Tan added.

Sources claimed that corporate groups comprising VPs of Star Plus, LG, Videocon and Samsung have also travelled by Singapore Airlines for the semifinal match. Most of them have travelled to Australia to watch the quarter finals and the semifinals.

"Almost 2,500 tickets to Australia were sold by Singapore Airlines alone for the World Cup," another airline official told MAIL TODAY.

For more news from India Today, follow us on Twitter @indiatoday and on Facebook at http://ift.tt/1aKMnw7

For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिए आजतक.इन पर आएं.