What is a flight to nowhere?

About this episode

What is a flight to nowhere? Thanks for asking! With the Covid-19 pandemic putting a halt to long-haul travel, sightseers have found a new way to get their flying fix. Airlines are organising “flights to nowhere”, which take off from an airport, fly around for several hours taking in scenic views, and then land back at their original point of departure.  Great, I’ve been waiting months to take a flight. Where do I sign up?   For the moment, the phenomenon has been more or less limited to Asia and Australia. Back on August 8th, Taiwanese airline EVA operated a special flight to nowhere with 309 passengers aboard. To honour the event, which took place on Father’s Day in Taiwan, they used one of their Hello Kitty decorated A330 aircraft. In Japan, All Nippon Airways treated customers to a Hawaiian experience on board its “giant sea turtle” A380 which usually flies to Honolulu. Passengers were served with pineapple juice and cocktails, while ground staff wore Hawaiian shirts. Meanwhile, Qantas made headlines a few weeks ago after apparently selling out a flight to nowhere in just 10 minutes. Tickets for the seven-hour flight from Sydney Domestic Airport went for $787 Australian dollars in economy class, $1787 in premium economy and $3787 in business class.  Wow, it seems like flights to nowhere are the latest travel trend! But how about the environmental impact? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen the last episodes, you can click here: What is consent? What is the US Supreme Court? What is gaslighting? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices