‘Flights to Nowhere’: Connecting Leisure Travel’s Today And Past

Even Hello Kitty taking a flight in covid should wear masks.

In order to celebrate Father’s Day in Taiwan, on Aug. 8, Eva Air’s Hello Kitty-themed jet fleet with 309 passengers took off from Taipei Taoyuan Airport. Interestingly, the flight returned to Taoyuan three hours later. According to Eva Air’s customer service office, the Christmas and New Year special flights are the second episodes of Eva Air’s ‘flights to nowhere’ program.

(Eva Air’s Hello Kitty-themed jet, which its Father’s Day ‘flights to nowhere’ utilized. Photo credit to Getty Image, Alvin Man)

Due to the global pandemic, billions of travelers have had to cancel their travel plans ever since the 2020 spring. To provide consumers with a sense of travel and also in a way to survive in the extreme wintertime of the travel industry, some well-known Asia-Pacific airlines, such as HK Express, Eva Air, ANA, Qantas Airways, Singapore Airlines, etc., have started offering flights that begin and end in the same place. Some airlines called these as ‘scenic flights’; others are more direct to the core feature, calling them ‘flights to nowhere.’

During such a unique time in human history, Exxson Shan, an independent travel journalist and reviewer who has millions of kilometers of flight mileages, felt excited about the new beats. “It’s my first time to hear about such special services. It provides me a purer opportunity to experience the on-board service, the sense of ‘flying.’”

(In 1957, Cathy Pacific launched a 20-min scenic flight for HKD 20. This is the advertising poster. Photo credit to @HangKongWuYu from Weibo.)

Actually, the scenic flight program existed for a while since the middle of the last century. In the 1950s, Cathay Pacific had experimentally offered scenic flights to people who were curious about the sense of ‘flying.’ Passengers paid merely HKD 20 to take the island hopping by plane, which was an inexpensive service. Considering consumer capitalism context and ever-growing industrial circumstances, the entire aviation industry went flourishing in the past few decades. And taking planes becomes no longer a curiosity-driven choice of leisure.

Dr. Maria Lombard, an assistant professor from Northwestern University in Qatar who had done research on travel, added on the historical background of affluent travel. “We see evidence of the increasing impact of capitalism on the travel experience throughout much of the 20th century. Earlier periods obviously saw travel happening because of trade, but not necessarily the other way around, with trade influencing travel as leisure.”

“Other aero-travel programs like Cathay Pacific’s also existed in multiple expos in the middle of the last century.” FATIII, a Top 10 Aerospace KOL on Sina Weibo, said. “As a symbol of affluence, it was popular among the bourgeoisie -- purchasing HKD 20 to take a scenic flight and sharing his or her thrilling experience above the sky was attractive in price and quality… And today, due to the pandemic, the options for leisure are limited. ‘Flights to nowhere’ might become another curiosity-driven selling point attracting consumers.”

Apart from the eye-catching feeling in the first place, Shan also mentioned his thoughts about onboard service, which he thought will directly shape passengers’ experience of this program. “We could see, here, most of the airlines launching the program are well-known for their high-quality service. But to satisfy passengers’ curiosity and high expectations, they should also think about the difference between ‘flights to nowhere’ and normal flights if airlines want the program to stand out because ‘flights to nowhere’ are still not the only option of travel in the pandemic. Airlines are merely selling their services.”

In Eva Air’s Hello Kitty flight, passengers were served Michelin-level onboard seafood cuisine. Moreover, Eva Air provided an amenity gift kit filled with gifts and a steep discount on Hello Kitty duty-free items.

Although Singapore Airlines canceled its ‘flights to nowhere’ program, they will reopen the Airbus 380 fleets as special restaurants. Guests can enjoy the luxurious food services, which were exclusive to the business-class and first-class passengers previously. “It’s another idea to sell high-quality services. The essential logic has no difference from ‘flights to nowhere.’” FATIII added.

(HK Express’s ‘flights to nowhere’ welcomed crowded passengers. Photo credit to Patrick Poon on Instagram.)

Insofar, passengers have found the special program interesting and satisfying. Patrick from Hong Kong, who enjoyed HK Express’s program, gave considerably high comments on ‘flights to nowhere.’ “This is a very remarkable round trip for me, a real round trip, a real weekend getaway.” From the photos he posts on social media, the attendance rate of HK Express’s program was high.

However, both airlines and aerospace experts do not see a bright future for the program. Up till now, despite Singapore Airlines having given up the plan already, Eva Air also does not have further plans to resume ‘flights to nowhere,’ according to its customer service office.

Besides, Shan also shared his insights into the program’s future. From the airlines’ perspective, such programs cannot significantly stimulate the sale of other tickets. The profits are predictable, while the fundamental cost is huge.

Analyzing the cultural roots, both Shan and FATIII expressed that the success of ‘flights to nowhere’ is temporary, with a close relation to unique cultural roots and lifestyles in Asia-Pacific regions. Airlines launching ‘flights to nowhere’ are mostly from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and Australia, which are countries or regions with small territorial areas but high GDP as well as per capita disposable income. “People from these regions tend to have a stronger willingness to international travel, and that’s why it sells fast,” FATIII said.

In the future, they don’t think it will be popularized in Western countries. “In the Western cultural context, airline traveling with a role in commute weighs more important, compared to its role in travel.” Shan pointed to the cultural differences between the West and these rich Asia-Pacific countries.

On the other hand, due to the unpredictableness of the pandemic, the future of the whole aviation industry is fogged.

“We as passionate travelers might be excited about ‘flights to nowhere,’ but the modern aviation industry is not just facing travelers. Airlines need to think about other adjustments to their service so that they can keep business flyers’ loyalty,” Shan concluded.