Singapore Airlines Cancels Flights To Nowhere After Backlash
Airlines around the world have been taking a huge hit after travel has been restricted in most countries to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some have taken matters into their own hands and have come up with ingenious ways to generate extra income, and it was how the idea for flights to nowhere was born. Singapore Airlines had initially announced that they were on board with the idea, following other carriers in Australia, Japan and Taiwan that have done the same but most recently, they have said it is scrapping plans for it after an outcry over the environmental impact.
These flights to nowhere are designed for travel-starved people keen to fly at a time of virus-related restrictions, and have proved surprisingly popular. They start and end at the same airport, and don’t actually take you anywhere.
Now Singapore’s flag carrier, which has grounded nearly all its planes and cut thousands of jobs, said it had ditched the idea following a review. Other ideas that the carrier has come up with to raise revenue include offering customers tours of aircraft and giving them the chance to dine inside an Airbus A380, the world’s biggest commercial airliner.

Environmental activists had voiced opposition to Singapore Airlines launching the flights to nowhere, with group SG Climate Rally saying they would encourage “carbon-intensive travel for no good reason”. “We believe air travel has always caused environmental harm, and it is now an opportune moment for us to think seriously about transitions instead of yearning to return to a destructive status quo,” they said.
The airline said earlier this month that it was cutting about 4,300 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, the latest carrier to make massive layoffs.
The International Air Transport Association estimates that airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region stand to lose a combined US$27.8 billion this year. It is also forecasted that global air traffic is unlikely to return to pre-coronavirus levels until at least 2024.
Source: AFP Relax News