Source: Global Network - Cultural and Tourism Channel [Global Times Special Correspondent Su Fan] During the COVID-19 epidemic, all walks of life around the world have suffered varying degrees of impact, and the tourism and aviation industry is the first to be affected. In order

Source: Global Network - Cultural and Tourism Channel

[Global Times Special Correspondent Su Fan] During the COVID-19 epidemic, all walks of life around the world have suffered varying degrees of impact, and the tourism and aviation industry is the first to be affected. In order to save the shrinking air passenger service, airlines around the world have innovated service content and launched "Don't Go anywhere" routes, allowing passengers to simply enjoy the feeling of flying up to high altitudes and traveling, but will not land at any other location.

Russia "never go anywhere" flight.

"No Where" route goes to Moscow

On December 19, the "Victory" low-cost airline, affiliated to Russia's largest airline, AEROFLOT, started Russia's first "No Where" route, and the starting point and ending point of the plane are Moscow. In an hour and a half, the plane flew along the "Golden Ring", the most classic tourist route around Moscow, where passengers could overlook the beautiful mountains and rivers. The airline promises to operate in accordance with normal flight standards. For epidemic prevention and safety reasons, passengers are required to wear masks throughout the journey and do not provide diet.

The pilot of the flight, Kochemasov, has many fans on Russian social media. With the vigorous publicity of the airline and himself, the tickets for the first flight were sold out within 8 minutes, and the tickets for the second flight were sold out within 6 minutes. This new flight mode has attracted widespread attention from the Russian media and the public. However, Victory Airlines admits that they are not the initiators of this idea, they are just imitating the "advanced experience" of other countries and regions.

Russian media said that the first one in the world to propose the "never go anywhere" route initiative may be Taiwan's EVA Airlines company. During this year's Father's Day, EVA Air was the first to launch a tourist route with Hello Kitty as the theme. The plane departed from Taipei Taoyuan Airport , hovered over Taiwan Island for nearly 3 hours before returning to Taoyuan Airport. The lowest price for economy class is NT$5,288 (approximately RMB 1,240). According to Taiwanese media reports, EVA will also launch the "Fly! Love Soaring in the Air" air singles flight on Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in the near future. At that time, the flight attendants and flight attendants will transform into Cupid and invite single people to meet their destined partner at high altitude.

Relying on food and beautiful scenery to retain passengers

Japan ANA is not willing to fall behind and launched Tokyo sightseeing routes on August 22 this year. The take-off and landing airports are all Tokyo Narita International Airport. The route is operated by the world's largest A380 passenger plane. The plane is painted with blue Hawaiian turtles, giving passengers the feeling of "pretending to go abroad". The plane takes off in the evening and hovers over Tokyo and surrounding areas for about 90 minutes. Passengers can watch the sunset and stars on the plane, enjoy a special air meal for Hawaiian routes produced by famous chefs, and passengers can also obtain certificates as a commemoration. The air ticket price is also quite affordable - the economy class is priced at 14,000 yen (about 885 yuan), and the first class is priced at 50,000 yen (about 3,161 yuan). Japanese media said that there were tens of thousands of people applying to participate in the ANA’s maiden voyage, which was hard to find. In the end, only 334 lucky passengers were selected through the lottery.

At the end of October, Singapore Airlines also added a brand new purposeless sightseeing route. It takes nearly 3 hours to take off and land at Singapore Changi Airport , and the fare is about 1,400 yuan, and business class is about 2,900 yuan. This flight not only attracts many flight enthusiasts to travel "never go anywhere", but also has the opportunity to visit Changi Airport, known as the world's most beautiful airport. In addition, Singapore Airlines has also launched the "Aircraft Restaurant" project, where customers can enter the Airbus A380 first class cabin and have lunch while watching movies.

On November 1, South Korea Asiana Airlines launched the "purposeless flight" route, using the Airbus A380 large passenger plane that previously only operated international routes. In order to allow passengers to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the air, the flight speed of the aircraft has been reduced, and the flight altitude has been reduced to about 3 kilometers above the ground, which is only 1/3 of the ordinary flight altitude. At the same time, for epidemic prevention considerations, air tickets must be sold separately. The flight ticket price is about RMB 1,200 to RMB 1,800, and it was sold out once it was launched.

flights from Australia take you to Antarctica for a circle

Australia Antarctic route

What is even more amazing is that Australia airline has launched 7 Antarctic sightseeing flights from November this year to February next year. These flights basically take off at around 9 a.m. and return at 9 p.m., and fly in the air for about 12 hours. The most expensive luxury business class costs as much as AUD 7999 (1 AUD is about RMB 4.9), the standard economy class costs AUD 2199, while the lowest ticket price Explorer economy class costs only AUD 1199. The airline decided to use the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner to fly Antarctic route. The plane will take more than 4 hours of "8-character circle" voyage over the Antarctic, allowing every passenger to have the best sightseeing view. During the publicity, the airline said that passengers can go to Antarctica without luggage and wearing shorts; if someone asks you what you did on the weekend, the coolest answer may be "I went to Antarctica for a walk."

Australia Airlines announced on September 17 local time that it will launch a 7-hour "purposeless flight" in October. The mission is performed by the Boeing 787, which is commonly used for long-distance international flights, and the aircraft will fly low above the "heart" of Australia, the dual heritage of the world's cultural and natural Ayers Rock (also known as the Uluru Boulder), the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney harbor, and then return to Sydney. The 7-hour flight fare is based on seating level, ranging from AUD 787 to AUD 3787.

The one with the biggest imagination is Thai Airways . Recently, it has launched a three-hour "spellent chanting flight" and flew across 99 Buddhist holy places in the area. A dedicated person led everyone to recite Buddhist scriptures on the plane. The lowest air ticket price is 5999 baht (about RMB 1,307) and the highest is 9999 baht (about RMB 2,179).

The "never go anywhere" routes from countries around the world actually upgraded the "sightseeing bus" and "sightseeing train" that were common in the past to "sightseeing planes". This reflects the difficulties of the aviation industry and also shows that innovation may bring new opportunities to the aviation industry. At present, some flight travel enthusiasts have called on airlines to open a "blind box" route, that is, a flight with a certain departure location and an uncertain destination.