More than 260 Argentine fans, including relatives of National Team players, left this morning from the Ezeiza airport for Qatar on a special Aerolíneas Argentinas flight to watch the match that the Albiceleste team will play against the Netherlands on Friday for the quarterfinals soccer World Cup final.
Flight AR1918 took off at 8:56 a.m. and is scheduled to arrive in Doha this Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., after a refueling stopover in Rome, so the 269 passengers will be on Qatari land two days before the match.
This is the ninth special flight to the capital of Qatar carried out by Aerolíneas Argentinas for the World Cup, whose tickets sold out on Sunday night hours after being confirmed after the victory on Saturday of the team led by Lionel Scaloni against Australia, that granted the pass to the quarterfinals, company sources highlighted Télam.
Between the expectations and the nervousness for the trip, a dozen passengers presented problems with the “Hayya Card”, the card that contains the information of the person traveling and is mandatory to present to enter Qatar and the World Cup stadiums.
One of them was Juan, who was with his group of friends at a table at the airport, while he was trying to solve the problem. “We already have tickets for the stadiums and we hope to be able to resolve it soon,” the young man pointed out to Télam, while he drank a mate.
With a resigned face, Joaquín, who bought his ticket to travel to Qatar, was also looking to solve a problem with the application. “If it’s not resolved soon, I’m going to risk traveling. Let it be what God wants,” he said as he rested leaning on his suitcases.
For its part, Aerolíneas decided to wait “until the last moment” for travelers to resolve the situation with the key card to move in Qatar, which finally happened and cleared the departure of the flight.
“It was not a problem of the company, it is something that the Government of Qatar demands and we could not let anyone board who did not meet those requirements, because otherwise Airlines could be severely sanctioned,” a company source told Télam. .
“It is a dream come true to be able to travel to the World Cup. I saved for a long time to be able to make the trip and now I will be able to do it,” Alejandro told this agency, while waiting to board the Airbus 330-200 of Aerolíneas.
The man, who was wearing the albiceleste shirt, indicated that he already has tickets for the match against the team led by Louis Van Gaal and hopes that Argentina “can lift the World Cup.”
Among those who had been waiting very early, some even since midnight, to board the plane there were also relatives of members of the National Team.
Sebastián Fernández, brother of Enzo Fernández, one of the Argentine figures in this World Cup, highlighted: “I feel very excited about this trip, especially because of Enzo’s great moment in the team.”
Sebastián Fernández, brother of Enzo Fernández, one of the Argentine figures in this World Cup, highlighted: “I feel very excited about this trip, especially because of Enzo’s great moment in the team”
Another of the fans on the flight was Iván, who was traveling with his girlfriend to Qatar. “I am looking forward to this trip, but especially I am very nervous about the game on Friday,” he confided to Télam.
Wearing a light blue and white shirt, he stressed that “he has a lot of faith in Scaloni’s team, because they have been playing well in recent games and I hope we can reach the final.”
Although Iván indicated that he has a return ticket for December 12, he hopes to be able to extend his stay in the Asian country until December 18, when the final of the international soccer tournament is played.
For her part, Silvia, a chemical engineer, stressed that her trip “transcends the purely footballing since she wants to know the country’s culture.”
“I am really excited to learn the history of a country that has such a rich Muslim culture both in infrastructure and history,” she said.
The woman, who was wearing an Argentine hockey team jersey, said that despite not having advance tickets for the quarterfinal match, she hopes to get them “at the lowest possible price” once in Doha.
For their part, Tiago and Aldana, natives of the Buenos Aires town of Pilar, took advantage of the World Cup to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.
“We are not only more in love than ever, but we share the same passion for football and there is nothing better than traveling for our anniversary to see Lionel (Messi) and his football,” said Thiago, whose suitcase featured a River club shield. Plate.
As the flight time approached, the check-in line grew longer.
Some took advantage of the minutes before getting on the plane to have breakfast in the bars located around the airport, while others bought in the candy machines.
The plane that departed this Tuesday exceeded the average occupancy rate of more than 75 percent that occurred on direct airline flights, which was not the only route chosen by those who arrived in Doha to support the National Team.
On the occasion of the World Cup, many opted for the Ethiopian flight, with a stopover in Addis Adbaba; others did it via San Pablo with Qatar Airways; Many Argentines also traveled to neighboring Dubai on the Emirates and from there they traveled to Doha. To a lesser degree, some decided to travel via Europe, with Air France/KLM, Iberia, British Airways or Lufthansa.
