Qantas sightseeing flight: 'Great Southern Land' scenic trip over Australia

Travellers grounded by the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to experience the joy of flying, taking in some of Australia's iconic sights, on a scenic flight operated by Qantas. The 'Great Southern Land' flight on Saturday, October 10 will depart from Sydney and head up the New South Wales coast, cross the Queensland border to the Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast before continuing north to the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef and features low-level fly-bys of landmarks. It will then head inland to the red centre taking in Uluru and Kata Tjuta before returning for a low-level circuit of Sydney Harbour and landing back at Sydney. The seven-hour flight accommodating 150 passengers is on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, an aircraft usually reserved for international flying. The Dreamliner has the largest windows of any commercial aircraft. Qantas' Dreamliners are currently grounded due to the downturn in international travel. The plane use will be 'Emily', a 787 featuring Indigenous livery based on the 1991 painting of artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Yam Dreaming. The flights will cost $787 (get it?) for economy class, $1787 for premium economy or $3787 for business class. Qantas says a small number of business class seats will be available through the airline's frequent flyer scheme, for 250,000 points each. The scenic flight is the latest move by grounded carriers to generate revenue following COVID-19 pandemic including Singapore Airlines reportedly also planning "flights to nowhere" that will take off and land at the same airport.<br/>