Wenger defends 14-minute flight to Norwich
Arsenal has been criticised by an environmental group for choosing to fly to Norwich, but Arsene Wenger says the Gunners had little option.
Arsene Wenger has defended Arsenal's decision to take a 14-minute flight for Monday's (AEDT) Premier League match against Norwich City, a distance of little more than 150km.
The Gunners' travelling party is due to fly from Luton Airport to Norwich for the game with Alex Neil's side, despite a train journey from London taking just two hours and a journey by road taking only slightly longer.
Wenger, who opted to take the same journey by plane in 2012, has been branded "ridiculous" by environmental group Plane Stupid, but the 66-year-old coach insists the flight is a necessity given traffic issues in the country of Norfolk.
"When we made the decision there was some roadworks planned," he said. "Sometimes the access to Norwich is difficult, so we decided to fly. But it's not a lot of difference.
"We do not fly a lot any more. We take a train or coach. This is an exception. Now, we have a new coach.
"When you go to Birmingham, we took the train a lot because the traffic was impossible on a Friday afternoon on the M1.
"Now we found a solution is that we have dinner here and travel afterwards. So we go 7.30 to 9.30 and that usually goes well. We have no traffic problems.
"Before, when you left at three o'clock, we never knew when we would arrive."