FLIGHTS TO THE capital of Czechia increased by up to 159% within an hour of Ireland being drawn to play the country in the World Cup play-offs.

On 26 March, the Boys in Green will face Czechia in the semi-final of the play-offs.

Should they win that game, Ireland must win a play-off final five days later against either Denmark or North Macedonia.

While Ireland will have home advantage for the final if they beat Czechia, the team faces an away match in the semi-final.

The capital of Czechia is Prague and in the hour after the draw was made, the cost of flights to and from Dublin increased sharply.

Fine Gael Senator Mark Duffy said he was monitoring the airline websites as the draw was being made.

“I’m a big Irish football fan myself and go to as many games as I can.”

Duffy said he was anticipating a “price hike” but described the increase as “total price gouging”.

He said fans will be forking out “at least” €600 for a return flight from Dublin to Prague.

Duffy told The Journal that a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Prague the day before the crucial game rose from €93 to €241 in the half hour after the draw was made- a 159% increase.

Meanwhile, an Aer Lingus flight from Prague to Dublin the morning after the game went up from €211 to €427 – a 102% increase.

Elsewhere, an Aer Lingus flight to Prague on the morning before the game increased from €264 to €439 – a 66% hike. 

“Fans are trying to go over and make more brilliant memories and it’s something that needs to be looked at because this is a regular occurrence for in demand events,” said Duffy.

He called on regulators to examine whether such sudden fare increases are “consistent with consumer protection laws”.

In some cases the fare more than doubled in the space of a half an hour, this cannot be justified in a normal and fair market.

He said Irish fans should be “celebrated and not exploited” and called on airlines to reconsider the increases and “show respect” to the fans.

Duffy added: “Irish fans are part of the reason we’ve got to where we are and have such a brilliant reputation.

“To almost penalise them financially while trying to go over and support our national team is something that’s really unacceptable and unpalatable.

“The context of it all is obviously very exciting and it was a decent draw, but it just puts a bitter taste on it when you see such hikes for flights.”