World Cup 2018: Germany to be best-supported foreign team in Russia according to flight bookings
‘England supporters have bought only around 33,000 tickets, fewer than the number sold to Australian fans’
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Your support makes all the difference.The current World Cup holders, Germany, are likely to be the best-supported foreign team at Russia 2018, judging from flight bookings to football’s flagship tournament.
Data from the global travel tech firm, Travelport, reveals actual numbers of passengers booked to fly to Russia between 14 June and 15 July, the duration of the tournament.
The strongest absolute growth in flight bookings is from Germany, with 16,213 more travellers booked than in the corresponding period last year – an increase of 44 per cent. Supporter of the winners of the 2014 World Cup have so far bought over 62,000 tickets.
Two-thirds more Americans will fly to Russia, representing 13,654 travellers. More tickets have been bought by US fans than by any other foreign nation, even though their team failed to qualify.
China, Spain and Brazil fill the next four spots. Argentina is sixth, with an astonishing growth of 939 per cent, representing 6,199 more travellers – compared with fewer than 600 in 2017.
The UK (rather than just England) takes seventh place. A 51 per cent rise will see 6,159 additional passengers fly to Russia. England supporters have bought only around 33,000 tickets, barely half as many as German fans and fewer than the number sold to Australian fans.
All told, one-third more travellers are expected to fly in, according to data for bookings made to the end of May. Flights and match tickets are still available for last-minute travellers.
Stephen Shurrock, chief commercial officer for Travelport, said: “German supporters are clearly feeling optimistic they can retain the title with the highest total number of fans travelling to watch their team.
“It’s also brilliant to see distance is no deterrent to the large number of fans travelling from South America to support their teams, with bookings from Argentina and Brazil almost 1,000 per cent higher than usual.”
The country that has seen the biggest slump in flight bookings to Russia is Italy. During the 2018 World Cup, 5,204 fewer people are booked to travel, representing a decrease of 18 per cent.
Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in its history.
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