Cheaper charter flights and cruise ship cabins for fans at Fifa World Cup in Qatar

Fans travelling to Qatar for the World Cup this winter could find themselves being rocked to sleep by the ocean at the end of the day.

To accommodate the influx of guests to the country, cruise liners will be brought into dock to offer football fans an additional place to stay.

MSC Cruises has been chartered by Qatar’s Supreme Committee to deliver two ships to be used as temporary accommodation.

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said the company would cater for fans from "across the globe converging on Doha".

Prices have not yet been released but the ships will complement Qatar's 130,000 hotel rooms – which is not expected to be nearly enough to cater for the number of fans expected. As previously reported, fans staying in Dubai, Abu Dhabi other Gulf cities flying into Doha for matches is the most viable option.

Official tour operators told The National they plan to organise daily chartered flights for football fans in the UAE who want to fly to Qatar.

People who entered the ballot for tickets for the event in Doha in November were told on March 8 if they were successful. That announcement initiated a scramble for airline tickets and hotel rooms, both of which are limited owing to the huge demand.

Airfares for the one-hour flight to Doha have more than quadrupled in price, soaring to more than Dh7,000.

While extra flights from regional operators are likely to become available, official tour operators have taken the step of chartering their own flights to meet high demand.

“There has been record-breaking demand, both globally and from this region,” Alan Holt, managing director of Expat Sport, the UAE sales agent of matchday hospitality for the Qatar World Cup, told The National.

“The most popular