Qantas Airways has a new seven-hour flight that soars over the Outback and the Great Barrier reef — one of the new “flights to nowhere” that have become popular across Asia, Reuters reports.
- Tickets for the Qantas flight cost about $575 or $2,765 depending on where you want to sit. A total of 134 seats were purchased within hours.
- “It’s probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history. 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,” a Qantas spokeswoman told Reuters.
An ongoing trend for ‘flights to nowhere’
International travel in Asia has dropped 97.5% since the pandemic started, according to Reuters.
Multiple airlines across Asia remain closed, which has limited some of the leisure tourism options in the region, CNN reports.
- Taiwan’s EVA Airways and Japan’s ANA has launched new sightseeing flights that bring travelers over beautiful areas, which can be viewed from windows.
- Singapore Airlines also offers flights to nowhere, according to Straits Times newspaper.
- According to CNN, the airline “is considering several initiatives that would allow us to continue engaging both our customers and members of the public. Currently, none of these plans have been firmed up.”