The airline Singapore Airlines will not offer ‘flights to nowhere’. She announced this on Tuesday, after criticizing the environmental impact of the flights.
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Various airlines – including in Australia, Japan and Taiwan – have offered such flights in recent weeks. People pay for a seat on a plane that lands in the same place as it took off.
Qantas, for example, promised a seven-hour flight past a variety of Australian attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Byron Bay and Sydney Harbor.
“Many of our frequent fliers are used to getting on a plane every week, and miss that experience of flying as much as the destinations themselves,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce of the remarkable initiative.
Thanks to the special flights, which often turned out to be very popular, the airlines can mainly earn some money now that aviation has largely come to a halt. And it’s also important for pilots to keep their licenses.
But there was a lot of criticism from environmentalists. According to them, the corona crisis is the time to think about the climate and not the time to return to destructive patterns. Singapore Airlines has listened to their arguments.
“The idea of short exceptional flights or” flights to nowhere “was initially considered, but after careful consideration it was not validated,” said the airline, which is now studying other options “to please fans.” Interested parties could visit planes or dine in them. The aircraft will then remain on the ground.
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