Companies offer flights that go nowhere, and it's a hit

Taiwanese company EVA offers flights on board its plane -

Strange post-Covid world.

If you had been told six months ago that airlines would sell tickets for flights that don't get you further than your home airport, you probably wouldn't have believed it.

But the coronavirus has been there, pinning many planes and their crew to the ground.

Threatened by a historic economic crisis, some airlines based in Asia and the Pacific have come up with the idea of ​​offering flights for passengers in need of air travel.

Passengers missing the flight

In the American daily New York Times, we can read the story of the trip of Nadzri Harif, DJ for radio in Brunei.

In August, he set foot at an airport for the first in six months.

Masked, disinfected, he went through the airport and boarded an A320 of the company Royal Brunei Airlines.

A snack was served on board.

Then, at the end of the 85-minute flight, the plane landed on the tarmac at Brunei International Airport ... Exactly where it had taken off a little earlier.

"I hadn't realized how much I missed traveling, and flying, until I heard the captain's message welcoming us aboard and reminding us of the safety measures." , Nadzri Harif tells the

Several companies launch special flights

He is not the only one: in one month, Royal Brunei Airlines made five similar flights.

Other companies go further by offering themed flights.

Taiwanese EVA flew an A330 decorated with the image of Hello Kitty, with 309 passengers, on Father's Day in Taiwan, tracing a heart in the sky.

EVA Air flight BR5288 took passengers east over the island of Yonaguni.

Once southwest of Taiwan, it turned over the Taiwan Strait to leave the shape of a thumbs-up

sign.

👍

This sign was intended to thank & encourage medical personnel worldwide fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

pic.twitter.com/OQSJbV180q

- EVA Air (@EVAAirUS) August 23, 2020

The Japanese company All Nippon Airways took 300 people on board for a one and a half hour flight aboard a Hawaii-style plane.

On September 17, the Qantas company also announced a flight "to nowhere" over Australia.

The tickets sold out in ten minutes.

They cost between 787 and 3,787 Australian dollars (or 484 to 2,330 euros) and will take off from Sydney on October 10 and fly over the landscapes of three states, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New Wales for seven hours. from the South, all without having to show your passport, pack your suitcase or confine yourself on your return to the airport.

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Miss taking to the skies together?

Us too!

We've designed a special scenic joy flight on board our 787 Dreamliner for those who just want to spread their wings - no passport or quarantine required.

Departing Sydney on 10 October, the 'Great Southern Land' scenic flight will feature low-level flybys of some of the Australia's most iconic landmarks including Uluru, Kata Tjuta, the Whitsundays, Gold Coast, Byron Bay and Sydney Harbor.

Be quick!

Fares go on sale at 12pm AEST today.

Click the link in our bio for more info ... Thanks to your great support this flight is now sold out.

A post shared by Qantas (@qantas) on Sep 16, 2020 at 4:21 pm PDT

Reviews of environmental impact

The offers are multiplying because customers are asking, either to make up for their lack of travel, or to discover their country from the sky, some testify to the

The companies may well highlight the fact that these flights are not useless, because they allow their staff to continue working, the ecological impact of these trips without destination is criticized.

In 2012, global civil air transport emitted nearly 700 million tonnes of CO2 emitted in 2012, the equivalent of what a country like Germany emits, according to the Climate Action Network, which brings together defense associations of the environment.

excited to tell my kids one day we used this opportunity to actually make climate change worse https://t.co/WxKwvlOmFK

- Léa Antigny (@leaantigny) September 18, 2020

The Qantas company tells the

that it is offsetting the carbon emission of its seven-hour flight, while Royal Brunei Airlines claims to use an A320neo, an aircraft less polluting than others.

In France, somewhat similar thefts had taken place in 2009, recalls Le Figaro.

Aviation fans had bought their seats at auction to be the first to board the A380.

"Four or five years ago, some were able to say goodbye to the Boeing 747 in the same way," Air France indicates daily.

But today "this kind of theft is absolutely not planned", specifies the company.

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