By Laure James
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Chelsea are likely to come under fire from eco-warriors after it was revealed they chartered a flight from Norwich on Boxing Day.
The journey by road can take roughly three hours but Rafa Benitez and his men would not have been in the air for any longer than 25 minutes.
The team boarded their BMI Embraer jet, after their 1-0 win at Norwich City, and shaved hours off of their commute, touching down at London Gatwick at around 7.30pm.
Flying: Chelsea have won all three matches since returning from Japan, scoring 14 goals in the process
Winner: Mata scored the only goal on Boxing Day at Carrow Road
Flight times from London to other Premier League venues
Reading - 6 minutes
Southampton - 10 minutes
Norwich - 15 minutes
Aston Villa - 15 minutes
West Brom - 16 minutes
Stoke - 21 minutes
Swansea - 25 minutes
Manchester - 25 minutes
Wigan - 26 minutes
Everton and Liverpool - 27 minutes
Sunderland - 35 minutes
Newcastle - 36 minutes
Sources close to the club defended the charter flight, particularly so soon after their long-haul return from Yokohama earlier this month, from the Club World Cup.
Environmentalists slammed Arsenal for their decision to charter to and from Norwich in October, drawing heavy criticism from Friends of the Earth.
Jennifer Parkhouse of the Norwich and Norfolk branch said: 'I cannot see any reason why they would have flown, other than it being a rather ostentatious display of the players' and club's wealth.
'It is absolutely absurd… They would have spent more time getting on and off the plane than in the air.'
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger defended the choice, blaming the unreliability of other modes of transport.
'Usually we take the train and there was no train available, so we decided to fly,' he said, adding it is difficult to estimate the time it takes to drive there.
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