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As soon as the referee blows his whistle
to end England's final group match - against
Sweden - and if the team has secured passage
through to the last 16, then TMG will start
taking bookings trips to Germany. The firm is
one of only two travel companies appointed by
the Football Association as travel agents for
members of the official England fans' group.
George
Dick, TMG's managing director, said: "The
rush will be unleashed the moment fans know
for sure that their team is through.
"Between the end of the Sweden game and
the start of the knock-out stage, we will have
just five days to make all the arrangements
to transport thousands of supporters to Germany.
"We have been able to take options to charter
the aircraft we need at very short notice, but
it is still going to be extremely busy, and
for three hectic weeks the World Cup will effectively
double the size of our business."
The travel arrangements for World Cup 2006 will
be much smoother than those for World Cup 1998,
in France.
Mike Scholefield, director of TMG Sport, added:
"We didn't have the technology then that
we have today.
"The ability to book tickets on line, 24
hours a day, has transformed the way the operation
runs. Back then, we had to take on loads of
extra people just to answer the phones."
TMG has been taking bookings for this competition
since the end of last year, but many fans were
disappointed at failing to obtain match tickets
in the ballot carried out by the FA.
Mr Scholefield added: "There are still
some flights available for the opening matches
against Paraguay and Trinidad, but people should
be aware that they need match tickets obtained
through official sources before they will be
allowed to travel."
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