COVID-19 unusual flights (III): more unusual ultra-long haul routes

Picture: KLM

In normal circumstances you rarely get to see European airlines flying all the way to Australia and Oceania. This is why a number of repatriation flights that are being arranged amidst the Covid-19 pandemic are catching the interest of aviation enthusiasts the world over.

If Austrian airlines flew a Boeing 777-200 nonstop between Vienna and Sydney, this week has seen some other special routings in the region.

KLM has returned to Australia, a country that is no stranger to its flight roaster (as you can see from the early 1950s travel poster that illustrates this piece, although, of course, the journey was a bit longer and more arduous than today!)

In fact, this is a proper airlift, with at least six flights being scheduled to bring home some 2,000 Dutch citizens stranded in Australia. Malaysia Airlines is also participating in this enterprise, flying some of them on its planes to Kuala Lumpur as well.

And Lufthansa is also operating some very long range repatriation missions, among them an exceptional service all the way to Fiji, with a stopover in Guam.

Flights to, both, Auckland and Christchurch, in New Zealand (with a stopover in Bangkok) have also been scheduled

The German airline has put together a website where the schedule of these special flights can be checked.