At any cost: Freo faithful make pilgrimage east for historic grand final

Some are taking the long way, even taking flights via other overseas capitals, such as Bali or Singapore.

Whatever the way and whatever the price, Fremantle fans are beating a path to the MCG after the club booked a historic second AFL grand final appearance this Saturday.

Fremantle secured their passage to the big dance after the team’s come-from-behind victory over the Sydney Swans on Friday night. It will be only the second time in the club’s 32-year history that the Dockers have made it to the last game in September.

The West Australian side will face a Brisbane team looking to secure their own slice of history by equalling the feats of the Leigh Matthews-coached premiership team that won three titles in a row from 2001 to 2003, before being defeated by Port Adelaide in 2004.

In the hours after the triumph, airlines added dozens of new flights between Perth and Melbourne.

For those yet to book, reaching Melbourne from Perth is likely to cost as much as a trip to Europe.

Virgin added 20 flights and almost 4000 seats to help ferry passengers east, with Qantas and Virgin also bolstering capacity on Friday evening.

Almost all of those travellers will be paying a minimum return fare of roughly $2000 and, most likely, closer to $3000.

“It’s absolutely gouging, but we’re a hostage to them. We’re at their mercy,” die-hard Fremantle fan Matt Richardson said.

A review on Saturday morning shows just a handful of direct flights in the days before and after the grand final costing less than $1000.

One Fremantle supporter, Kathy Collett, has managed to secure two 100-seat fokker aircraft to help fans get to Melbourne ahead of the grand final.

“I think it was probably about two and a half months ago, three months ago,” Collett told 6PR’s Chrissy Morrissey.

“We did it back in 2013, and we just thought, we know how costly it gets if you leave it to the last minute.

“So we thought let’s go back to the list we did in 2013 and see if we get much interest.