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The national flag carrier Air India is planning to launch its own “Flights to Nowhere” for travelers who are missing their flying experience amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that come with it.
Under the “Flights to Nowhere” program, the carrier will start the service where the aircraft will take off and land at the same airport and will take passengers on a picturesque journey in the sky. These ‘scenic joy flights’ will be a low-altitude flight expedition, enabling passengers to visit famous sights in India by air.
According to an Air India spokesperson, the airline will use wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747 for the service. A Boeing 747 can fly as low as 500 to 1,000 feet for display flights, but the region in which it can fly at low altitude depends on the safety approvals from the Air Traffic Control (ATC).
He added, “Yes, we are exploring the possibility of launching scenic flight services. Other details are to be determined.”
However, this is not the first time that an airline is starting such program. Qantas Airways, the flag carrier of Australia, has recently launched “Flights to Nowhere” and tickets were sold out within 10 minutes of its launch. The flights of Qantas Airways are taking passengers to visit the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef. The flight duration is up to 7 hours.
The airline said in a statement that the seven-hour scenic flight will include low-altitude flights over Australian destinations in Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales including the Great Barrier Reef, Byron Bay, Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Sydney Harbour.
Not only Australia, even Singapore is also planning to initiate the similar service. These flights will take off from Changi Airport and land at the same airport. The reports on the plan for no destination flight show that this is aimed to increase the airline’s revenue.
During the coronavirus pandemic, no destination flights are novel services in the aviation industry. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the aviation industry is one of the most affected. Many companies have adopted unpaid leaves, layoffs and pay cuts to its employees in order to reduce costs.
