Russians may fly for free to Euro 2012: Putin

St. Petersburg: Russian football fans deserve to have free flights to the 2012 UEFA European football championship matches to be held later this year in Ukraine and Poland, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

Putin told a group of football fans in St. Petersburg Thursday that he thought Russia`s two biggest airlines -- Aeroflot and Transaero -- would be happy to provide one or two aircraft to ferry Russian fans to the games free of charge. The favourable advertising would more than cover the expenses, he said. "I do not think Aeroflot and Transaero would lose money if we asked them to give you aircraft for free for the sake of advertising," Putin said. IANS