The West Australian, 20Sep15
Fans to fly high for grand final fling
Fremantle and West Coast are yet to book their spots in the grand final but that has not stopped WA fans chartering their own planes.
As the other hopefuls run each other ragged this weekend, Perth aviation charter companies are dealing with unprecedented interest.
Alliance Airlines has booked more than half a dozen planes for the trip east, including two Fokker 100s chartered by the Fremantle Dockers women’s fan club, the Sirens.
Sirens member Michelle Garrett, 52, said the concept of chartering a plane started as a joke in 2013.
Perth software engineer Neil Fisher has chartered two planes through Alliance and he’s calling them “The Docker Fokkers”.
Tickets were $1350 return and there was a waiting list for Eagles fans in case the Dockers dropped out.
Tour companies are also getting involved, including Australian Tours for Sport, an agency run by Robert Whan, who has two planes.
Hype Tours owner Aaron Ford has created the “Hype Plane” — a Fokker 100 with a 50-50 split of Eagles and Dockers fans.
Warren Puveanendran, of Cobham Aviation Services, said the interest was different from 2013. “We have three planes booked and one on standby,” he said.
“If both sides make the grand final, we’ll have to find some more planes.”
Every Perth aviation charter company canvassed byThe Weekend West had fielded multiple inquiries in recent weeks. The fans were given a scare yesterday with reports that refuelling workers at Perth Airport were threatening industrial action.
But the major airlines said even in the event of a strike, they expected minimal service disruptions.
A nice little earner...
