Qantas sells 'fly me to the supermoon' tickets as Covid-19 drags on

SYDNEY • "Fly me to the supermoon" is the latest offering in airlines' merry-go-round of flights to nowhere, with Qantas Airways promising a night of cosmic cocktails and cake aboard one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

After scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef, vast outback and Antarctica, Australia's flagship carrier will start selling tickets from today for a trip on May 26 to see the rising supermoon, and that evening also happens to be a total lunar eclipse. A supermoon is when a full moon occurs at the closest point to Earth during its orbit, making it appear larger and brighter.

For A$1,499 (S$1,559) for business class, passengers will gather in the Qantas lounge in Sydney for drinks, canapes and entertainment before ascending well into the atmosphere to view the moon. The night flight will climb above any cloud cover and should touch 43,000 feet, or 13,106m, the maximum cruising altitude of a 787. Most passenger flights cruise at around 35,000 feet, or 10,668m. An astronomer will be on board for commentary and insights.

Since Covid-19 forced the closure of international borders, decimating travel, airlines have turned to any number of innovative ways to make a little extra cash. Several have offered flights to nowhere but other gimmicks include dinner on an A380 from Singapore Airlines and a pop-up restaurant at Thai Airways International's Bangkok headquarters. Qantas has also taken to selling its business-class pyjamas and the bar carts (fully stocked) from its retired 747s.

However, any income from such efforts won't do much to alleviate the industry's broader pain. Carriers are forecast to lose US$47.7 billion (S$63 billion) this year, the International Air Transport Association said last month.

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