Russian football fans deserve to have free flights to the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship matches being held later this year in Ukraine and Poland, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a group of football fans in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
Putin said he thought Russia's two biggest airlines, Aeroflot and Transaero, would be happy to provide one or two aircraft to ferry Russian fans to the games free of charge. The favorable advertizing would more than cover the expenses, he said.
“I do not think Aeroflot and Transaero would lose money if we asked them to give you aircraft for free for the sake of advertizing," Putin said.
Putin was responding to requests from fans at the meeting for help in securing cheap air travel to the games.
