Qantas is launching "mystery flights" in an attempt to bolster domestic tourism across Australia and spark nostalgia among passengers. The flights will be on one of three Qantas Boeing 737 planes from Brisbane, Melbourne, or Sydney with economy fares beginning at AD 737 (GBP 413, USD 577).
The all-day package includes activities that range from wine-making and gourmet lunches to snorkelling on tropical islands. Airlines across the region are coming up with different strategies to tackle the pandemic-induced travel plunge.
Qantas was one of the first airlines to offer flights to nowhere, which take off and land at the same airport after low-level fly-bys of iconic Australian landmarks. The mystery flights are the Australian airline's latest move to attract more passengers into flying.
With international borders unlikely to reopen until 2022, Qantas has asked the government for certainty over domestic travel now that Australia's Covid-19 vaccine rollouts are underway.
"What we are looking for is an assurance that at a point in time, or at a point in the vaccine rollout, further border closures will be ruled out," said Andrew Parker, Group Executive, Qantas, adding, "Travellers are confused by a patchwork of rapidly changing restrictions and are understandably worried about being locked out of their own home state or intended destination.”
