Toulouse Olympique face a frenzy of flights at the end of their debut season in Super League with five away fixtures in six weeks.
Super League’s newest side spent all last season travelling to away games in the Championship because of Covid travel restrictions, though a return from private jets to commercial travel will have an impact.
TO Chief Executive Cedric Garcia told League Express: “I would have liked maybe one more home game in the closing stages of the regular season, because we have five away games from six fixtures, which is a challenge for any club that has to travel by air, particularly now we have to travel on commercial airlines.
“We always knew that we would have to return to regular scheduled flights and that we won’t be able to charter private flights next year, purely because of the huge costs involved.
“So instead of in-and-out, we will have to fly the day before the game and return the day after, which eats into our preparation and recovery time for following fixtures.
“It will be a challenge as the season reaches its climax but we will cope with it. Our mindset at Toulouse is that there are things that we can control and things that we can’t, so we just get on with it.”
As for home fixtures, Garcia says the club is working hard to promote ticket sales in a bid to fill the stands at the 18,000-seater Stade Ernest Wallon and is encouraging fans of other Super League clubs to visit.
“Already we have felt an expectation in the city and a willingness to come and watch Toulouse in Super League.
“At the same time, we would like as many English fans as possible to visit us and enjoy our famous city. We have many partners and we can propose the right hotels and right places to visit.
“We want to make people feel really welcome here and fully appreciate what we have to offer.
“We have agreed a partnership with the people at Catalan Sport Tours who have a great deal of experience of bringing English supporters to France.”
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