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It may take a while before international travel restrictions are lifted, but airlines can’t afford to wait that long. With more jobs at risk of being eliminated with each passing day, some airlines have found a halfway solution: flights to nowhere.
In some territories, with some airlines or certain airports, these flights to nowhere never take off: they are just simulated flights, with the aim of offering frequent travelers suffering from cabin fever that “airport experience”, which also includes boarding. the plane and go through the pre-flight routine. In other cases, like Singapore Airlines (SIA), they take off but never go anywhere.
The idea may seem ridiculous to someone who doesn’t fly too often: that you would pay money to go to the airport, get on the plane, and spend 3 hours on the plane, only to land at the same airport. But it’s something that should help frequent fliers for now, and more importantly, it would offer some form of financial relief to cash-strapped airlines.
According to the Straits Times, the plan was for SIA to partner with charter company Singapore Air Charter, but SIA ultimately decided it would go ahead on its own. The flights to nowhere program would begin next month, in October, and would allow tourists to pay with tourist credits offered by the government. SIA did not confirm this, but said they were looking for a variety of options.
Each flight would take off and land at Changi Airport, and could be combined with a vacation home, a limousine ride, and “Shopping experiences at the airport” to be an even more irresistible offer. The flight itself would take about 3 hours, but the experience could be extended depending on what else is part of the package.
Independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie of Sobie Aviation tells the publication that such a project would hardly have an impact in terms of revenue, even with the novelty factor. Still, it would break even and keep the planes in the air and the crew working. Then it’s better than nothing.
