Members of staff at Arsenal have been left angered and disappointed after being charged £859 for travel to the Champions League final in Budapest.
Telegraph Sport is aware of multiple Arsenal employees who were dismayed by the cost of chartered flight packages for staff.
All members of staff who are not working at the final have been offered one non-transferable ticket for the match against Paris St-Germain, which is Arsenal’s first Champions League final in 20 years.
Arsenal’s approach is in contrast to that of PSG, who announced after their semi-final victory over Bayern Munich that they would be providing free tickets and travel to their staff for the final. PSG did the same for the Champions League final last season, which they won against Inter Milan.
Arsenal have organised chartered flight packages costing £859 with SportsBreaks, a third-party travel operator, and have told employees: “Space permitting, colleagues attending the final can opt to purchase a seat on these flights.”
The outbound flight leaves London Luton Airport early on the day of the final, May 30, before a return flight after the game.
Employees can alternatively make their own travel arrangements, but may need to be booked on to the chartered flight if they are to make it back to London in time for a potential trophy parade on May 31.
Some employees will be required to work at the parade, which further limits their options when booking travel to Budapest.
Telegraph Sport understands that around a third of the club’s employees have taken up the offer of a ticket to the final. That number would likely have been higher if certain members of staff had not been required to work at the screening of the final at the Emirates Stadium. It is understood that staff representatives were consulted on the flight package.
Every member of staff who is not able or willing to travel to Budapest will be offered complimentary tickets to the screening.
Arsenal have been keen to ensure that as many supporters as possible have had access to tickets for the match, with the club given an allocation of 16,824 general admission tickets by Uefa.
In a letter to PSG employees earlier this month, the French club’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, said: “Last year, many of you had the opportunity to be in Munich to support the team during the European final. It was a powerful moment that perfectly embodied the unity and sense of belonging that define our club.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi confirmed in an open letter that he ‘would like to invite all staff members to join the team in Budapest’ – Chris Brunskill/Getty Images
“In that same spirit, it was important to me that all employees should once again have the opportunity to be part of this final stage of our European journey. We would like to invite all staff members to join the team in Budapest for this exceptional occasion.”
Arsenal are thought to have earned around £120m from their impressive run to the Champions League final this season. If they are victorious against PSG, they will be guaranteed an additional £9m.
Arsenal’s latest accounts show that the club had a total of 871 employees in the year ending May 31 2025. Those accounts also show that Arsenal made an overall loss of £1.4m last season, despite posting record revenues of £691m.
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