Ten minutes. Ten. That’s how long it took to sell-out. Just ten-freaking minutes.
First, there were the scenic flights of Antarctica where itching-for-travel Aussies can buy tickets to board a flight in their capital city and fly to the South Pole and back in a day. Pretty cool, if you ask me. Though, definitely out of my price range. But now there’s Qantas’ Great Southern Land scenic flight which takes passengers around (a good part of) our country for a much more reasonable fare. But, why?
Aside from those with money to burn, those who love to see the scenery from a distance, and flight-nerds who’d give an arm-a-leg for a commemorative flight certificate, I don’t see much of an appeal to flying around Australia to see our ‘best of’. I’d much rather wait a minute for our borders to reopen and get out there on foot for a bit of a walkabout—something I definitely wouldn’t be doing in Antarctica.
In any case, none of this matters because Qantas sold all 134 tickets to their inaugural Great Southern Land scenic flight in less time than it takes me to get out of bed in the morning. So, what are these 134 people getting for their $787 and $3,787? Well, some are getting better seats than others for starters, but everybody is being treated to a pre-flight breakfast in the Sydney Domestic Qantas Business Lounge as well as a Neil Perry designed in-flight lunch.
There will also be a live auction, which we’re hoping will be mid-flight because that sounds like fun, and a celebrity MC that is being kept under wraps for now. All passengers aboard the 787 Dreamliner will also receive an amenity kit and a pair of Qantas business-class pyjamas in case the flight gets a bit tiring.
But what will these flyers get to see from the air? Well, we can’t be 100% certain but thanks to the rough itinerary on the Qantas website, this is our educated guess.
1. Departing Sydney
2. The NSW Coastline
There’s a lot of coast north of Sydney. And they’re going to see a lot of it.
3. The Gold Coast
It is on the way.
4. The Great Barrier Reef
We’re told the plane is going to get low to maximise what passengers see.
5. The Whitsunday Islands
There are 74 of them, and most are uninhabited.
6. The Simpson Desert
We’re assuming that at some point the flight will need to cross a desert. We are ‘in’ Australia.
7. Uluru
Because what scenic flight around Australia would be complete without Uluru? None.
8. Kata Tjuta National Park
We’re still flying low.
9. Back to Sydney via…
Okay, we’re not too sure what they’ll be seeing on the way back because there are 2000 kilometres to cover.
10. And home again
With a late-afternoon flyover Bondi Beach.
A Qantas spokesperson has said that the Great Southern Land scenic flight is probably their fastest-selling flight in history. In other words, this is probably not the last time we’ll be seeing these kinds of flights.
So, what do you think? Would you go?
If you prefer to get out and about and explore on your own two feet, then why not road trip it down to Jervis Bay, and touch the whitest sands in the world.
(Featured image: Photo by John Kappa ツ on Unsplash)