Wednesday, July 22, 2009

cheap London flights & Ashes

Qantas, is part of a cheap flights promotion being used to poke fun at Ricky Ponting's under performing national cricket team.

STA Travel's advertisement features a sad-looking kangaroo called Ricky holding a cricket ball.

It tells customers Qantas is offering London-Sydney flights for 215 pounds - one pound for every run scored in Australia's "rather paltry" first innings of the second Test.

There are 425 tickets available - one for every first innings run England amassed en route to inflicting Australia's first defeat at Lord's in 75 years.

STA, which has 450 branches worldwide including 100 in Australia and New Zealand, says the special Qantas fares are "to celebrate the epic Aussie demise".

Ponting's men can take little comfort from the thought that they might be helping homesick Aussies return cheaply, because Poms out for a low-cost holiday down under are just as likely to buy the tickets.

Travellers would have been even better served if the Poms had batted as dismally as the Aussies.

The cheap fares promotion was a "cooperative activity" generated in the UK between Qantas and British Airways under a code-share agreement, said a Qantas spokeswoman in Sydney.

"The result has ended in fantastic fares for travellers from England to Australia," she said.

"It's great news for customers."

Qantas had no comment on whether Australians might feel offended by mockery of their cricketing pride and joy.

A similar deal will apply for next month's Fifth Test at The Oval, when the price of a London-Melbourne flights will be determined by England's first innings total and the number of tickets by Australia's tally.

The current sale might suit UK-based Aussies who can't take much more ribbing, with departures starting from August 7, the date of the fourth Test at Headingley.

It might also appeal to Poms who want to see England rub it in even more, with final departures on September 22, two days after the long tour ends with a seventh one-day match.

Cricket Australia's current airline partner is Emirates.

Qantas had not been a preferred supplier for over a decade, a spokesman said.