Airlines Invent Crazy Ways To Make Money With Closed Borders

When it comes to raising money, nothing is off limits for airlines in their worst crisis. From fresh vegetables to peanuts, they are selling just about anything to overcome the pandemic.

Even airlines that received government bailouts and cut costs are looking for new sources of revenue as they spend cash while fleets are largely grounded and people stay at home. Recovery is expected to take years and cost carriers billions of dollars more.

Here’s a look at what airlines are selling as they try to offset the impact of Covid-19.

With its international fleet grounded until at least mid-2021, Australia’s Qantas Airways is leasing one of its Boeing Dreamliners for sightseeing trips over the southern ice sheet.

Antarctica Flights leases the Qantas aircraft and crew for seven trips between November and February. Flights last between 12 and 14 hours, and a full-service business class seat on board costs $ 5,850 (Dh21,470).

Qantas also sold items normally gifted to premium passengers, including 10,000 pajama sets that it said were purchased in a matter of hours. The $ 18 amenity packages that were generally distributed free to people in the front seats were available online and contained hand cream, tea bags, chocolate chip cookies and smoked almonds, among other treats on board.

Qantas may also recover some of its Boeing 747s, which were retired early due to the crisis. A spokesperson said that some of the cabin interiors, such as the first-class table trays, could be sold as souvenirs.

Air North, the 43-year-old airline connecting Canada’s remote Yukon to hubs like Vancouver, branched out into home-delivered air meals. Menu offerings include beef pie for $ 6.9 and a selection of cheesecakes for $ 10.7.

Customers can order up to 20 of the pre-cooked and frozen meals at a time, for a driver to drop off the next business day. Meals are only available in neighborhoods in the Northwest City of Whitehorse and the shipping cost is $ 7.6.

Thai Airways, for its part, has opened a restaurant equipped with airplane seats and paraphernalia at its Bangkok headquarters.

Japan’s ANA Holdings sold tickets for a charter flight to nowhere. About 300 passengers paid for the so-called Hawaiian resort experience on an Airbus SE A380 that normally flies the Tokyo-Honolulu route. The passengers were selected through a lottery.

The crew wore Hawaiian masks and shirts and served cocktails during the 90-minute journey.

Starlux Airlines introduced a “pretend to go abroad” flight flown by its president on August 7, and 188 tickets for the trip along the east coast of Taiwan were purchased in 30 seconds, according to Focus Taiwan.

Starlux made another flight for employees and paying customers on August 16, also carried out by its president. Tickets are $ 144 each.

EVA Airways filled all 309 seats on a special flight for Father’s Day on August 8, Focus Taiwan said.

Air New Zealand is considering subletting some of its Auckland headquarters as part of a cost review. Local media said that up to a quarter of the company’s office, or 5,000 square meters of floor space, is available. A spokesperson for the airline declined to comment further.

Low-cost travel pioneer AirAsia Group, which posted a record loss last month, started an Amazon.com-style platform that sells fresh fruits and vegetables.

AirAsia’s e-commerce company Ourfarm aims to leverage the airline’s cargo, logistics and payment capabilities to connect Malaysian farmers directly to hotels, restaurants and supermarkets. The site sells everything from potatoes to pineapples.

Faced with a drop in demand, airlines in China began offering unlimited flight packages to attract customers to domestic routes.

Among them, China Eastern Airlines in June announced unlimited weekend flights for the rest of the year for a one-time fee of $ 487. More than 150,000 people used the pass in just two weekends, the airline said. On some flights, they accounted for more than 90 percent of passengers.