Qantas to revive ‘mystery flights’

Qantas is returning to the 1990s by dusting off its mystery flight concept to stimulate travel. But there’ll be a few differences.

Qantas’s flight to somewhere proved popular with passengers last year. Now the airline is relaunching mystery flights to stimulate domestic travel. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

Qantas has gone back to the 1990s with the relaunch of mystery flights for passengers, to stimulate domestic travel and combat “border blues”.

The mystery flights of the last century involved simply turning up at a capital city airport and being allocated a seat on a scheduled flight to any of Qantas’s destinations.

The 2021 version will be slightly different, in that the mystery flight will be undertaken by a dedicated 737 and involve a whole day of activities in the surprise destination.

All destinations will be outside the capital cities, maximising the use of Qantas’s recently expanded regional network.

An economy seat will cost $737, including return flights and activities on the ground, and a business class seat $1579.

Qantas chief customer officer Stephanie Tully said the flights were about providing memorable travel experiences and promoting domestic tourism.

“Our customers tell us that where they can and can’t travel within Australia has been a bit of a mystery lately,” Ms Tully said.

“The vaccine rollout is bringing a lot more certainty and domestic border restrictions should soon be a thing of the past. In the meantime, these flights turn that mystery into a positive by creating a unique experience for the many people keen to start travelling again.”

She said as well as helping get more of the airline’s 11,000 stood down employees back to work, the mystery flights would support tourism operators in regional areas hit hard by several waves of travel restrictions.

The flights are the latest in a series of innovative services undertaken by Qantas to generate revenue in the crippling COVID-19 crisis.

Last year the airline staged a “flight to nowhere” to overcome border closures, followed by a “flight to somewhere” taking passengers for an overnight stay at Uluru.

The limited mystery flight experiences will depart from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne to a destination within approximately two hours.

Some low-level scenic fly-bys of key landmarks will be included in the flight, subject to weather and air traffic control.

On the ground, travellers can expect to be doing anything from winemaking, to lunching on the shores of a tropical island.

After booking, customers will receive “clues” as to what they should pack in their carry-on baggage.

Seats on the mystery flights to be staged in March, April and May, will go on sale at midday on Thursday, March 4.