Qantas sightseeing flight to nowhere sells out in ten minutes

At a time when international travel is still restricted due to the pandemic, making it difficult for people to take to the skies, Australian airline Qantas has come up with a seven-hour scenic flight to nowhere.

It offers people missing the flying experience – the thrill of boarding the flight to the exciting views of the Earth from above – a joy flight that promises great views of famous Aussie attractions, including Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef.

Billed as the Great Southern Land Scenic, the flight will both take off from and land in Sydney. It got booked within ten minutes, according to the airline, showing how popular these sightseeing flights are.

“It’s probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history,” the airline’s CEO, Alan Joyce, said in a statement.

“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.”

Keen fliers will be able to see famous Aussie attractions including Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef from above. The jet will do a low flyover over certain landmarks, including Uluru and Bondi Beach.

A Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which is usually reserved for intercontinental journeys across continents, will be used for the trip which will be taking place at a time when very few flights are operating to and from Australia due to travel restrictions and Qantas international fleet has been grounded.

Flight QF787 is slated to depart Sydney Domestic Airport on October 10 and return to the Australian metropolis seven hours later. It had 134 tickets on sale – spanning business class, premium economy and economy and costing from AUD$787 to $3,787 (US$566 to $2,734).

Prior to the Australian airline’s sightseeing flight, Eva Air’s Taiwan-based flight to nowhere offered a one-off journey on August 8. All Nipon Airways (ANA) also operated a short scenic flight in Japan in August.