Wenger defends 14-minute flight to Norwich

Arsene Wenger has defended Arsenal's decision to take a 14-minute flight to Norwich for Sunday's game with Alex Neil's side.

The Gunners' travelling party are due to fly from Luton airport to Norwich on Saturday, 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 insists the flight is a necessity given traffic issues in 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 3 o'clock, we never knew when we would arrive."

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1