There are those who did not hesitate for a moment to shell out € 2,332 for a flight with no destination. One of those that take off and land at the same airport after a scenic ride. Will it be the abstinence from fastening your seat belts or from pasta or chicken with rice ?, will it be the desire to sip champagne at ten thousand meters above sea level or to go back to being selfie on board after all these months of blocking the skies, but what happened this week in Qantas will end up being studied for a long time: for a scenic ride over Sydney Bay and the Great Barrier Reef, the Australian airline sold all 149 seats in just ten minutes. One every four seconds.
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The route
On 10 October, the historic carrier’s QF787 flight took off from Sydney airport – operated, not surprisingly, with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner – to return after seven hours without touching any other airport. Breakfast in the Qantas lounge, live entertainment, then boarding. Travelers will be able to admire the views of New South Wales, the 74 Whitsunday Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru (the sandstone monolith) and Kata Tjuta (the rock formation) in the Northern Territory from above. All this perhaps wearing the famous pajamas with the kangaroo donated by the carrier.
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Revenues
perhaps the fastest-selling flight in Qantas history, explains a spokesperson. CEO Alan Joyce does not rule out other similar initiatives. After all, it would be enough to look at the prices. Removed the central seats, which could not be purchased, 14 spent – as written – 2,332 euros each for one of the seats in Business, another 24 paid 1,100 euros for as many seats in Premium economy, while in Economy 111 paid out 485 euros. Almost 113 thousand euros in revenues and 40 tons of kerosene that will be burned. But it will be a carbon neutral flight, they assure Qantas: Co2 emissions will be offset by financing projects such as reforestation.
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The statistics
Qantas’ initiative comes at a time when air travel in Australia – and the rest of the world – has shrunk due to coronavirus, cross-country restrictions and demand plummeting to 40-50% of what it was a year ago . According to the documents of the Australian government – which the Courier has consulted – in June 631,300 people (charter included) boarded on domestic flights, -87.2% compared to the same month of 2019. In July, international flows to and from The country recorded 73,851 travelers, -98% compared to July 2019. Qantas has not operated international flights for months and could only resume them in the second half of 2021. For this reason, the main carrier in foreign connections is Qatar Airways with 27.2%.
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The initiatives
Qantas is not the first to organize these non-destination trips and is most famous for flying over near Antarctica. Farther north, in fact, several carriers have made them. Not only the giapponese All Nippon Airways, but also on August 8 Eva Air (Taiwan) known for Hello Kitty themed welcome kits, and Royal Brunei Airlines. Singapore Airlines – the island-state carrier – is also thinking of such an initiative, while on Saturday 19 September Eva Air will again take off from Tiapei with 120 people to show them the South Korean island of Jeju.
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September 18, 2020 (change September 18, 2020 | 18:21)
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