Arsenal FC thought it was being prudent and clever by chartering a private airplane for a short flight Friday. The green community didn’t quite see it that way.
The Gunners have come under fire for flying from London to Norwich ahead of their Premier League game. The 14-minute flight has been branded “absurd” by eco-campaigners, according to Eurosport Australia.
“It is absolutely absurd,” Norwich and Norfolk Friends of the Earth coordinator Jennifer Parkhouse said. “I cannot see any reason why they would have flown, other than it being a rather ostentatious display of the players’ and the club’s wealth.
“If the flight took 14 minutes, they must have spent more time just getting on and off the plane than in the air.”
The trip covered a distance of roughly 115 miles. A bus ride would have taken nearly two and a half hours, but Arsenal did not want risk a longer journey with a game kicking off less than 24 hours later. The Telegraph reports Arsenal cited disruptions to train service and possible heavy traffic as reasons for flying the friendly skies.
“The club considers all transport options available for the first team when travelling to an away fixture,” a club spokesman said. “Given the severe disruption to rail services at the weekend the most time efficient option was to fly, hence the first team made the journey by plane from London to Norwich.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger defended the decision on Tuesday.
“Usually we take the train and there was no train available, so in the end we decided to fly because we had to drive up on Friday afternoon at the moment when you never know how long it lasts.”
Environmental karma inflicted its own brand of justice on the Gunners. They turned in their worst performance of the season, losing to Norwich 1-0.
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Photo via Twitter/@Gunnerstuff
