QPR Drop Ticket Prices After Fan Complaints

Queens Park Rangers is cutting season ticket prices a week after the takeover by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes.

Supporters of the Premier League club who’ve bought tickets will receive a “significant” refund, allergist the team said on its website. There will also be reductions on match-day tickets, QPR said.

Fernandes is reacting to complaints by fans of the west London club after prices of season tickets were raised by the previous owner, Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone, for its first season in English soccer’s top flight since 1995-96. Prices were raised as much as 40 percent.

Jenny Elliott, QPR’s box office manager, said on the website: “This is a major step forward in terms of rebuilding the bond between the club and its supporters.”

Fernandes’s Tune Group last week bought a 66 percent stake in QPR from Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. The Guardian reported it was worth $56 million.

Fernandes has become chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd. with Amit Bhatia resuming his role as vice-chairman. Bhatia, the son- in-law of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, whose family owns the remaining 33 percent in the club, quit the board earlier this year because of differences with Ecclestone and Briatore over ticket prices among other matters.