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Footy fans are flying into Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s AFL grand final, with some travelling from as far away as Europe.
Darcy Narita, a self-confessed “Geelong tragic”, said he watched the Cats beat Hawthorn in Friday’s preliminary final on television in a pub in Amsterdam, where he lives.
Geelong fan Darcy Narita (left) in an Amsterdam pub booking a ticket to return home.
“As soon as the final siren sounded, I pulled out my laptop and booked the flights to return for the grand final,” he said.
Geelong play the Brisbane Lions in Saturday’s decider, when the Lions make their third successive grand final appearance.
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Narita is scheduled to leave Amsterdam on Tuesday night local time (Wednesday morning AEST) for a flight that will take him via Shanghai to Melbourne. In Melbourne, he will be reunited with his brother, Ashleigh, who is flying in from London.
Narita, whose family supports Geelong, said: “I haven’t missed a Geelong grand final yet since I’ve been alive.”
He plans to have 100 hours on the ground to soak up the atmosphere and spend time with family before the game. The whole “build-up” in Melbourne is one of his favourite events, Narita said.
Brisbane-based Nathan Christensen, wife Jessica and their two-year-old daughter will fly to Melbourne with Virgin on Friday night.
Christensen, who has a background in science and maths, said he calculated the odds of the Lions’ success this year based on draft picks before booking $300 flights in August.
“I don’t bet very often ... But I managed to predict that we would go through to the 2023 and the 2024 grand final.”
Brisbane-based Nathan Christensen, wife Jessica and their daughter will be in Melbourne for the grand final.
“I was a little bit sceptical with that one this year, but we managed to get through which is, I think, a great achievement given the injury list of the Lions.”
This year will mark the third consecutive year Christensen and his family have attended.
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“In 2023, we went via Tasmania and made a week trip out of it and it was a lot cheaper to fly into Melbourne from Tasmania than direct from Brisbane, which helped even though there was an extra flight.”
Christensen’s daughter’s birthday is around the grand final, “so we’ve got the crowd to sing ‘happy birthday’ for the last two grand finals, which has been awesome”.
“We’re hoping to try and get it happening again this year,” he said.
Another Brisbane-based supporter, Jane, paid $566 for flights in July on Virgin. The same flight on flexi fare lists now costs $1946.
“It is a lot of money if you leave it until we qualify,” she said. “In 2023, I went to book straight after we qualified (that same night) and it was $2000 in flights to fly there and back the same day.”
Jane said the price she paid was standard for flexi fares to Melbourne, and she always booked refundable fares. “I would not have been happy to pay $2k though,” she said.
Jane said her family followed the Lions from when the team was Fitzroy and before the club merged with Brisbane.
“I would still have considered going if we weren’t in,” she said. “But I wouldn’t have paid for a [plane] ticket if unsuccessful in the ballot [to attend the game].”
One supporter posted on Reddit: “Flying Bris to Melbourne. Flights were extortionate, I only booked tonight after confirming I got a ticket [to the game]. $680 leaving Wednesday coming back Monday. Otherwise, it would have been $900+.”
Jetstar, Virgin and Qantas have added flights to accommodate the surge of visitors descending on Melbourne for the game.
Melbourne-based Jetstar has added six return flights from Brisbane from Friday to Monday.
Brisbane-based Virgin has added five Brisbane-Melbourne services from Wednesday to Friday, with another five return flights from Sunday to next Tuesday. The airline has since added another 1200 seats, taking the total number of seats added to 2900.
Virgin said it would “continue to review its schedule ahead of the AFL grand final to support fans travelling to Melbourne for the game”.
Qantas has added seven return flights between Brisbane and Melbourne, and one additional flight from Melbourne to Brisbane to accommodate passengers.
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Qantas and Qantas-owned Jetstar are on track to provide 4500 additional seats, while Virgin will add 1700.
Melbourne Airport is also bracing for a surge of footy fans, forecasting 250,000 passengers to pass through the airport on Thursday and Friday.
Australia Pacific Airports Corporation chief executive Lorie Argus said Melbourne Airport was “proud to be the gateway to Australia’s sporting capital, and we’re looking forward to welcoming the Lions and their fans to Melbourne this week”.
Tullamarine’s terminals will be particularly busy on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but Argus said the airport would have extra staff and volunteers on hand to assist passengers.
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