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In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, "thefts to nowhere" are a hit

2020-09-22T14:29:12.064Z


To satisfy passengers in need of planes frustrated by the closure of borders, some airlines offer flights Travel the sky, with no other goal than to enjoy this pleasure felt by some, somewhat undermined by the coronavirus epidemic. On October 10, the Australian airline Qantas has scheduled a somewhat special flight: a "panoramic" trip to and from Sydney, intended for those who "just want to fly" and for whom "air travel. are missing ”, while many devices are now grounded across the planet, for lack of


Travel the sky, with no other goal than to enjoy this pleasure felt by some, somewhat undermined by the coronavirus epidemic.

On October 10, the Australian airline Qantas has scheduled a somewhat special flight: a "panoramic" trip to and from Sydney, intended for those who "just want to fly" and for whom "air travel. are missing ”, while many devices are now grounded across the planet, for lack of open borders.

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

Last Friday, in just 10 minutes, all of the tickets - the prices of which vary between 500 and 2300 euros - for this flight of the Boeing Dreamliner 787 were bought by Australians in need of pressurized cabins.

"No passport or quarantine (are) required", specifies the Qantas company, which offers its travelers a "low-altitude flight over some of Australia's most iconic sites", such as Mount Uluru, the rock formations of Kata Tjuta, the Gold Coast region or the seaside resort of Byron Bay, all in the company of a "surprise celebrity".

"They missed the experience of flying"

The Australian company, which surfs on the fashion of these "flights to nowhere", whose first take-offs were scheduled during the month of August in Taiwan, started from an observation.

"A lot of our regular travelers are used to taking a flight every two weeks and told us that they missed the experience of flying as much as the destinations themselves," assured its general manager in a communicated.

A way especially for these airline groups to reduce their massive economic losses, while the sector is very largely affected by an epidemic which has experienced a resurgence since the summer.

And faced with this crisis offer, candidates are flocking.

Between July 2 and 7, as CNN reports, the Taipei airport on the island of Taiwan had the opportunity to realize this by first organizing trips to "pretend we are was going abroad ”, in collaboration with the companies China Airlines and Eva Air.

More than 7,000 Taiwanese participated in the lottery offering one of the 180 seats in the three planes that remained on the tarmac.

Hawaii or Hello Kitty themed trips

Eva Air even, in the process, imagined a similar experience, but this time with a theme: on the occasion of the local Father's Day, a plane departing from Taipei this time took off for real on August 8, with more 300 passengers on board, for a 2:45 hour tour over the island.

All in a device bearing the image of the children's character Hello Kitty, with a meal made by a starred chef.

For a ticket whose price, in economy class, is around 150 dollars, according to a press release from the company, which ensures to do everything to "allow passengers to enjoy the atmosphere of long-distance travel".

All Nippon Airways, for its part, took off an aircraft, for a short trip on the theme of Hawaii.

How to explain this craze?

"I hadn't realized how much I missed traveling, I missed flying, until the captain's voice spoke on the loudspeaker with his welcome and safety announcement," exclaimed Nadzri Harif, a DJ who flew one of five destination-less 85-minute flights, launched by Royal Brunei Airlines to the New York Times.

"The most insane idea I have ever heard"

The company Singapore Airlines, which plans to cut 4,300 positions in its ranks, would also consider offering from next month “flights to nowhere”, intended for its nationals eager for takeoffs and landings.

These trips, planned in connection with the Singapore tourist office, should last three hours, according to the local daily Straits times.

The newspaper also publishes a poll, carried out on more than 300 people, 75% of whom said they were willing to take one of these flights without a destination.

But these aerial initiatives are not to everyone's taste, far from it.

“Perhaps this is the most insane idea I have ever heard.

This is 2 tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere.

[…] I did not think that anyone, except Trump, would come up with such a brilliant idea, ”for example rebelled an Internet user, on the Qantas Instagram page.

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"Have you lost your mind?

In this time of global warming and pollution, are you doing that?

», Indignant another, about this trip which the company assured the New York Times that it would offset the carbon emission caused.

“Well done Qantas.

Perhaps your seven-hour aimless trip will be able to offer a panoramic view of the impacts of global warming, while the plane will spit carbon emissions ”, also quipped a user, about these trips in full health crisis.

Nice one @Qantas 🙄 - perhaps your pointless seven-hour flight can offer panoramic views of the impacts of #ClimateChange as it belches out its profligate #carbon emissions #floods, #bushfire #ClimateEmergency https://t.co/M7h9HrWJYx via @ CNNTravel

- Simon Pringle (@simonpringle) September 18, 2020

In France, nothing like this should see the light of day.

If, in 2009, passengers had been able to take advantage for the last time of certain planes such as the A380 or the Boeing 747, for short trips without a destination, “this kind of flights is absolutely not planned” this year, replied the Air France company to our colleagues from Le Figaro.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2020-09-22

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