Qantas’ Great Southern Land scenic flight took 150 Australians on a once-in-a-lifetime aerial tourism flight over some of Australia’s most iconic destinations on Saturday.
The flight departed from Sydney.
A couple of great shots from the folks at https://t.co/dzL7UGfUSu of the Dreamliner at Uluru.
— Keg ✈️ 🇦🇺 (@Keg767) October 11, 2020
If you haven’t seen their work before they’ve got a few awesome shots of Qantas final 747 flight out of Sydney. pic.twitter.com/yLHZk6iS27
Hundreds of excited travellers arrived at the airport excited to travel once more, even if it meant that they won't be visiting a new destination.
When the flight tickets went on sale in September, it sold out within 10 minutes and judging by the reactions of travellers, it was an experience of a lifetime.
The full-day outing onboard a Qantas 787 Dreamliner usually reserved for long haul international flights, featured many low-level flybys of key locations along the New South Wales and Queensland coasts as well as Uluru in the Northern Territory.
The airline said in a statement that the flight path was designed by Qantas flight crew to showcase the unique Australian landscape from a different perspective, and without having to worry about continued border closures.
The Great Southern Land scenic flight was inspired by Frequent Flyers who said they missed stepping on board a Qantas flight and wanted an opportunity to enjoy some of the airline’s Spirit of Australia hospitality even if they couldn’t travel as they normally do.
Frequent Flyer David Thompson said like many people he had numerous international and domestic travel plans thwarted in 2020 so getting on a plane and taking a sightseeing trip was the next best thing until he could visit the destinations in person.
“I’m absolutely pumped to be stepping on board a plane again and one good thing to come out of the Covid-19 travel restrictions is the opportunity to appreciate what we actually have right here in our own country. I will be seeing them from the sky today but can’t wait to go back and land next time.," he said.
The Great Southern Land scenic flight operated with net-zero emissions – with carbon emissions from the flight 100% offset.