Would You Book a Flight to Nowhere?
With many travel restrictions still in place, flying is difficult for many people around the world and even here in the United States. That’s even more true for those who want to fly a special aircraft or enjoy service that you would normally find only on international flights.
While many people look at air travel just as a way to get to their destination, others love the experience itself just as much or even more than the location they visit. Now some airline are catering to the latter group with flights to nowhere. These are flight that have the same departure and destination and are all about the experience of being aboard an airplane.
Qantas recently announced a seven-hour scenic flight that will perform a giant loop. Depart from Sydney and fly up the New South Wales coast before crossing the Queensland border for a flyby of the Gold Coast and then up the Queensland coast to the Great Barrier Reef. The aircraft will then track across Australia to do low level flybys of Uluru and Kata Tjuta before heading back to Sydney for a late afternoon flyover of Sydney Harbour and Bondi Beach. The flight will depart on October 10, but don’t bother looking for a ticket. It sold out in less than 10 minutes.
The journey will be aboard a Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft that is usually reserved for intercontinental travel. But international flight out of Australia are mostly banned right now due to COVID-19. Qantas made 134 tickets available for this flight to nowhere, in business class, premium economy and economy. Prices varied between US$566 to $2,734.
Taiwan’s EVA, Singapore Airlines and Japan’s ANA have all either run similar flights to nowhere or are planning to do so, USA Today reports. For Americans who dream of the experience but don’t want to actually fly, “The Pan Am Experience” was an option. It took passengers on flights in the shell of former 747 that’s now used for movie sets. It never really took off, but nonetheless, it has been temporarily “grounded” due to the recent events of COVID -19.
Conclusion
A flight to nowhere is probably not something that everyone would do, especially when you have to pay for it. But there is a demand for these flight from people that love the experience of flying, the views and the onboard service.
Let us know if you would pay for something like this!
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If done here in USA, sadly no. If done in a country that wasn’t hit hard by covid, then yes.
I hope we’re not earning miles based on the point-to-point distance.
Id go for a couple hours. Not one of those 7 hour flights.
I would not do this. The risk of Covid-19 has not changed much since the height of the pandemic. Some increased mask and mask on your chin wearing but no vaccine and still 29 year old healthy doctors die (Houston, TX). Just sit tight for a vaccine and for cases to go down. After that, I will fly paid trips to somewhere.
Sure I would. Give me a window seat in F and I’ll sit there all day. 🙂