Climate campaigners condemn ‘joy flights’ for travellers who miss flying

Environmentalists have condemned the growth of scenic “joy flight” flights aimed at passengers who “miss the excitement of traveling.”

The tickets for a round-trip flight of seven hours from Sydney on Qantas were sold out in just 10 minutes. This is one of the fastest-selling flights by an airline. The 10 October flight has seat prices ranging from A$787 in economy class to $3,787 in business class.

The Great Southern Land flight, which uses 787 Dreamliner aircraft, usually used for long-haul flights internationally, will fly at a low altitude of 4,000 feet (1.220 meters) above Queensland, Northern Territory, and New South Wales. This allows passengers to view Australia’s most iconic landmarks, including Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef.

The advertisement for the trip promises that it will “reignite your joy of flying” and adds, “from the skies, there are not border restrictions”.

Qantas was not the first airline to introduce recreational flights to compensate for the financial losses caused by the Coronavirus epidemic. Last month, Taiwanese carrier EVA launched a Hello Kitty-themed flight that took off from Taipei and landed there three hours later. After a sightseeing trip in August was massively oversubscribed, Japan’s ANA airline plans to offer two 90-minute flights on the “Hawaiian Experience” in October. Singapore Airlines is Flight Free Australia, and it said: “We have to accept that flying will not be emission-free anytime soon.” He said that passengers on the Qantas plane would increase their annual emissions by 10 percent in only seven hours “while they gawk and admire the Barrier Reef.”

“Our house is on fire. Qantas’s sustainability claims that offset flight emissions are scams. They allow their emissions to continue by buying other people’s reductions. It’s the same as agreeing to pour petrol on a burning house for each bucket of water that you throw.

Anna Hughes, Director of Flight Free UK’s sister campaign, said: “I understand their motivation, but it is insane – a trip to nowhere is just emissions for its own sake.” If we are that addicted to flying, we have a problem.