Would You Take a Flight to Nowhere?

Qantas might just have your back.

When coronavirus started spreading around the globe, one of the hardest hit industries were airlines. With no one allowed to travel and with most countries shutting their international and even state borders, airlines lost a lot of customers and a lot of staff lost their jobs.

At the moment, things here in Australia are starting to look a little better. Western Australia and South Australia have no community transmission, Victoria is finally starting to flatten their curve, and there are even talks of a trans-Tasman travel bubble.

While this means that things are starting to look sort of normal here in Australia, there are still nowhere near as many flights as we once had pre-COVID.

This is great news for the environment, of course, as aeroplanes run off a lot of fossil fuels and contribute to a huge chuck of the world's carbon footprint. But it seems some airlines have put the environment aside to encourage more 'travel' during this weird time... only on this fight you’ll go nowhere.

Both Qantas and Singapore Airlines have offered customers 'flights to nowhere', which are essentially scenic trips so that customers can once again have the experience of flying. The flights are usually just a few hours and land in the same destination in which they took off.

The flights are of course aimed at boosting airline finances after they’ve been hit by coronavirus.

Because the flights aren’t actually going anywhere, passengers don’t need baggage or need to quarantine once they land so it works with coronavirus guidelines.

Qantas’ version takes passengers on a seven hour scenic route, at as low as 4,000 feet, over the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru as well as Kata Tjuta, Byron Bay and Sydney Harbour. They aren’t cheap though: the flights start at AU$566 and go all the way up to AU$2734.

So, this might seem like a super weird thing to do and a massive waste of money but some people are super keen for it. The Qantas flight sold out in just 10 minutes.

I can't stop thinking about the Qantas flight to nowhere that sold out within 10 minutes. 😣

— 🧡 (@a_funmibi) September 18, 2020

Considering it might be a long while before any of us can travel by air again, it makes sense as to why so many people might be interested. I don’t think it’s for me, but I definitely know some people who would jump at an experience like this.

On the other hand, I’m sure there are heaps of people that would love it if we would just not. The state of the environment is a really important issue right now, and encouraging pointless flights (and therefore unnecessary carbon emissions) is only going to make things worse.

Due to outcry over the impact on the environment, Singapore Airlines have decided to pull their flight to nowhere and are instead offering customers tours of aircraft including the world’s biggest commercial airliner, the Airbus A380.

Bookmarking this tweet for the next time some idiot says activism and making noise don’t work in Singapore 😌😌😌😌😌 pic.twitter.com/WY8D1DrCOX

— ave pauriah (@pauriahcarey) September 29, 2020

Qantas aims to make their flights to nowhere carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets for the flights, which is a step in the right direction, but many would rather they avoid it altogether.

So with the environment, your bank account and your boredom in mind, is this something you might reach into your wallet to try?

Header Image: picture alliance via Getty Images