Sevilla FC is strongly preferred
Footballers snatch planes from vacationers
November 6, 2023, 4:02 p.m
The Sevilla FC team flies back home after their away game – but at the expense of numerous other passengers. Because their chartered plane broke down, the airline quickly used a scheduled aircraft. Passengers waiting to board must remain on the ground.
Dozens of airline passengers have been grounded in Spain because of the preferential treatment of professional footballers. The Spanish club FC Sevilla benefited from a drastic rebooking by the airline Air Nostrum after their game at Celta Vigo (1-1) on Saturday evening. This caused criticism and excitement not only among those affected. The renowned newspaper “El País” spoke of a “surrealistic situation”.
What happened? Air Nostrum canceled its flight from Vigo to Madrid without replacement, although according to “Faro de Vigo” the passengers had already been called for boarding. Suddenly the flight disappeared from the information boards. The plane was instead used to transport the Europa League winners’ team because the plane chartered by the club was broken and unusable. Air Nostrum is the club’s travel partner.
“This only happens in a banana republic. Football is allowed to take everything and everyone by surprise,” “El País” quoted one affected man as saying. Other media wrote that the airline had allowed the footballers to “push forward” and to “leave the affected customers to their fate” in Vigo in the northwest of the country at a late hour.
According to media reports, there was no replacement for those affected – and there was no flight to the capital the following day. Most of the passengers ended up traveling the 600 kilometers between Vigo and Madrid on Sunday by buses and taxis because they didn’t want to miss appointments or intercontinental connecting flights. According to media reports, a total of between 80 and 95 people were affected.
The airline has since admitted the “regrettable mistake,” which was solely the company’s fault. “Next week we will contact all affected passengers to compensate them for the inconvenience caused. We sincerely apologize,” said X, formerly Twitter. A victim on X: “Apologies are not enough. We were left without a flight because you have priorities that neither we nor anyone else understand.”