New Data Says Many Americans Would Take ‘Flight to Nowhere’

The ‘Flight to Nowhere’ is becoming a phenomenon.

As we previously wrote, the idea of getting on a plane with no destination, flying for several hours, and then returning to the same airport is gaining traction worldwide. In fact, Australia’s Qantas Airlines recently offered such a flight and it sold out in 10 minutes.

Qantas, Taiwan’s EVA, Singapore Airlines and Japan’s ANA have all either run flights to nowhere or are about to.

For Qantas, the flight that left Sydney was “probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history,” the airline’s CEO, Alan Joyce, said in a statement. “People clearly miss travel and the experience of flying. If the demand is there, we’ll definitely look at doing more of these scenic flights while we all wait for borders to open.”

But the concept of the flight to nowhere hasn’t quite taken off in the United States yet.

Maybe it should.

According to a new poll from Harris, almost two-thirds of Americans say they would be interested in taking a sightseeing flight, or flight to nowhere.

No surprise, Gen Z/Millennials and Gen X folks, at 69 percent and 73 percent, respectively, are more likely than Boomers and Seniors to take such a flight. Baby boomers and senior citizens clocked in at 60 percent in favor and 46 percent, respectively.

Of those who say they are interested in a flight to nowhere, most say they would be willing to pay $260, on average.

Those who say they are interested had their reasons. They are:

– We all need a moment of escape (53 percent)

– It would feel like a mini-vacation (52 percent)

– I need a change of scenery (44 percent)

– Satisfy my itch to travel (38 percent)

– I miss flying (28 percent)

– To offset my cabin fever (22 percent)

– To create a sense of normalcy (21 percent)

The most recent Harris Poll was conducted on September 25-28, 2020 among a nationally representative sample of 1,971 American adults.