Australians are being encouraged to try a new type of road trip, with Qantas announcing a series of scenic flights over the country's most popular tourist attractions.
The new initiative, being used to boost a struggling tourism and airline industry, will allow passengers to enjoy Australia from above, with low-level flybys over locations such as Uluru, Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef.
The new initiative comes after their recent seven-hour aerial tourism flight sold out in just 10 minutes.
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The initial flight was intended to be a one-off offer, however after tickets were snatched up by frequent flyers missing air travel, the airline has decided to extend the initiative.
The first of the Scenic Flight Getaways will take 110 passengers on board a Qantas 737 from Sydney to Uluru.
"We were overwhelmed with the response to our scenic flight while most border restrictions were still in place," Qantas Group Chief Executive Alan Joyce said.
"Even the most frequent flyers said they had never experienced Australia from the air quite like that. And our crew loved being back on board.
"Now that more borders are starting to open, we're partnering with tourism operators on the ground to offer special flights to special destinations.
"Even though seats are limited, we think the awareness generated by these flights is a great way to get more people thinking about where they might holiday as we head towards summer."
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Qantas said the initiate may eventually include overnight stays at different locations once borders open.
"As well as a handful of these special scenic flight experiences, we're ready to ramp up our regular services with very competitive fares to help reunite families and friends by the end of the year," Mr Joyce said.
Qanatas and Jetstar are currently operating at just under 30 per cent of pre-COVID domestic capacity however Mr Joyce said the airline is hoping to increase capacity up to 50 per cent by Christmas.
If the initiate proves successful, it could provide much-need relief to the airline which recently announced up to 2500 jobs would be axed due to the impact of coronavirus.
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