Little fanfare but plenty of cheer as HK Express operates its first ‘flight to nowhere’ in skies over Hong Kong

Name: Hong Kong airlines operate ‘flights to nowhere’ for aviation enthusiasts
Uploaded: 2020-11-01T14:21:46.000Z
Duration: 3 min 25 s
Description: Hong Kong airlines operate ‘flights to nowhere’ for aviation enthusiasts

Carrier takes 112 passengers on quick trip over city but haze means most sights remain unseen

Travellers just happy to be airborne once again as anticipation builds over opening of travel bubble with Singapore

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Passengers on board the HK Express flight play a game with crew members. Photo: Handout

Danny Lee

Published: 10:21pm, 1 Nov 2020Updated: 3:47pm, 3 Nov 2020

In the low-cost spirit there was no fanfare for passengers arriving at a near-empty Hong Kong airport on Sunday to check in for a special HK Express flight that did not leave the city’s airspace.

Still, despite the coronavirus pandemic and the halt to global travel it has brought, there was a brief sense of normalcy for the 112 people who got on the “flight to nowhere”.

Even so, the contrast from the pre-pandemic era of travel could not have been more stark: passengers were escorted through the airport terminal in single file and separated from other genuine travellers to a cordoned-off area of the airport terminal.

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Hong Kong airlines operate ‘flights to nowhere’ for aviation enthusiasts

Guests were also separated on the plane by an empty middle seat.

HK Express, Cathay Pacific’s budget airline, was the first to announce it would launch sightseeing flights around Hong Kong. But it was beaten by Hong Kong Airlines, which operated its flight over the city last week.

Around 360 tickets were snapped up by Hongkongers in 90 minutes when the announcement was made by the airline last month.

Passengers wait to get on board the ‘flight to nowhere’. Photo: Handout