Flights to nowhere: The new normal

Qantas Airlines and Eva Air have announced flights to nowhere and according to BBC travel the public has embraced such an action. As the pandemic is still ongoing and intenational travel has been banned it seems that some of the international carrier have found their way to tackle these tough times. The Australian airlines has organised a flight to nowhere for mid-October. The tickets where sold out in 10 minutes when they went on offer in September. 

 "After months of working non-stop during the pandemic says doctor Downes stepping onboard quantas seven hours round trip flight to nowhere was like being home again".

 The flight QF787 took off from Sydney airport on Saturday morning October 10th flying over the Australian metropolis and made a loop over the most spectacular sights and the keen fliers had given the opportunity to view from  the Byron Bay the Gold Coast , the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru. The flight then completed the journey by arriving at the same place it took off from.

Revenue and the starving fliers where the reason behind the decision for the   air-carrier to organise this flight and according to BBC travel the mission was accomplished.

Everyone who bought a ticket earlier in September was there. Business class passengers economy passengers were long for this flight. The passengers had the opportunity to snack and to drink at the airports lounge and everyone could tell that the atmosphere was festive.

"It's probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history," the airline's CEO, Alan Joyce, said in a statement. " People clearly miss travel and the experience of flying. If the demand is there, we'll definitely look at doing more of these scenic flights while we all wait for borders to open".

With an ongoing  pandemic the travel and tourism industry suffers the  devastated consequences  of international travel ban around  the globe. 

 Qantas Group Chief Executive Alan Joyce said there has never been better time to be innovative in promoting our own backyard and supporting hard hit tourism operators.

The flight has raised concerns regarding the environmental harm of a plane had been flying for seven hours and there were others criticised the flight absolutely pointless. 

The Aussie airline said in statement that the flight was operated with net zero emissions of carbon.

 The price ticket on this flight included contributing to Qantas carbon offset programs said passenger Huang and added that he understands why may see fly to nowhere excessive.

" My view was we made a conscious to agree to  the carbon offset program, so we agreed to those terms, " he says on CNN.

The flight has been designed by designed by Qantas flight crew and to showcase the unique Australian landscape from a different perspective, and without having to worry about continued border closures. 

Part of their inflight entertainment was that they have granted permission to flyover the Uluru and to offer their passengers to sightseeing from the top.  On the other hand the flight was featured two ground-to air satellite phone calls over the aircraft PA for passengers to hear first-hand facts from local experts as they fly over Whitsundays and Uluru.

The scenic flight was a once life-time experience and frequent flyer David Thompson said like many people he had numerous international and domestic travel plans thwarted in 2020 so getting on a plane and taking a sightseeing trip was the next best thing until he could visit the destination in person.

The  getaway flight is about to be repeated by December 5th and this time the passengers will have the opportunity to sightseeing overnight the most iconic Australian spots while still including spectacular low-level flybys and as well as to land somewhere given that currently Qantas operating domestic routes. 

EVA Air's flight :

EVA Air  the Taiwan based air-carrier has operated a flight to nowhere o  earlier this August 8 on board its Hello Kitty theme A330.

 "The international travel has been suspended for more than half a year and citizens cries  for going abroad is getting strong  To satisfy traveler's wishes EVA Air has decided to introduce an alternative travel experience on August 8 said the airline in a statement.

The jet plane took off on Saturday morning at 10:30 am from Taipei airport  flew 650 over South Korea and its capital city of Taiwan circling around for three hours and then landed to the same airport.

The flight was catered and the passengers had the opportunity to enjoy hot meals on board created by the three star Michelin chef Motokazu Nakamura. The main course consists of the choice a chirasi don or braised beef noodle dish.

The Chinese airline was the first one who introduced those flights to nowhere in Asia  

All Nippon has charted its A380 and 334 passengers had the chance to be on board  for three hours and to view the earth from the top. According to www.simplyflying.com the airline has announced two more so-called nowhere flights for November 15 and December 20. 

by E.Neo

Sources: CNN, bbc