After a wildly successful seven hour aerial tourism flight to ‘nowhere’ which sold out in ten minutes, Qantas has decided to up the ante with Scenic Flight Getaways that offer an overnight stay in some of Australia’s most culturally significant sites.
On Thursday (October 29, 2020) Qantas announced the launch of Scenic Flight Getaways which offer an overnight stay at one of Australia’s most culturally significant sites. Recently, the carrier offered a seven hour aerial tourism flight to ‘nowhere’ which sold out in ten minutes and received rave reviews from guests. The new Scenic Flight Getaways program will offer spectacular low-level flybys and an overnight stay at iconic Australian destinations. The first in a series of flights will take 110 lucky guests aboard a Boeing 737 from Sydney to Uluru, for a spectacular overnight ‘staycation.’ In Thursday’s announcement, Qantas Group’s Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, said,
“We were overwhelmed with the response to our scenic flight while most border restrictions were still in place. It sold out in 10 minutes and the feedback from people onboard was fantastic. Even the most frequent flyers said they had never experienced Australia from the air quite like that. And our crew loved being back on board. Now that more borders are starting to open, we’re partnering with tourism operators on the ground to offer special flights to special destinations. Even though seats are limited, we think the awareness generated by these flights is a great way to get more people thinking about where they might holiday as we head towards summer.
“As well as a handful of these special scenic flight experiences, we’re ready to ramp up our regular services with very competitive fares to help reunite families and friends by the end of the year. Across Qantas and Jetstar, we’re currently operating at just under 30 percent of our pre-COVID domestic capacity and if borders continue to be relaxed, we’re hoping that will reach about 50 percent by Christmas. That will be great news for a lot of people in the travel and tourism industry as well.”
Qantas believes there has never been a better time to promote destinations at home while supporting the hard hit tourism industry. The first Scenic Flight Getaway will takeoff for Uluru on December 5, 2020 and will include a pre-departure champagne breakfast, low-level flybys of Sydney Harbour, and low level circuits, to give guests a bird’s eye view of Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
Qantas has partnered with Voyages Indigenous Australia to deliver guests a memorable Red Centre experience while staying at Ayers Rock Resort’s premier hotel, Sails in the Desert. Guests will enjoy a hands-on indigenous art workshop, a night at Field of Light with a three-course dinner under the stars featuring native ingredients, a didgeridoo performance and an Indigenous interpretation of the stars in the night sky. The next morning, passengers will be treated to a spectacular sunrise over Uluru, a guided walk to the Muṯitjulu Waterhole and a visit to neighboring Kata Tjuta, followed by a late morning brunch and return to Sydney and a final flyby of the harbor.
The Scenic Flight Getaway will operate with net zero emissions due to a 100% carbon offset which will be directed to traditional fire management projects operated by Indigenous-owned enterprises in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Qantas is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and through the ‘Qantas Future Planet’ team is one of the largest purchasers of Indigenous Carbon Credits in Australia, supporting Indigenous employment and engagement across regional Australia.
Source: Qantas