$100 ticket from Moscow to... Moscow: Novelty flights SELL OUT for those missing the thrill of air travel during Covid-19 pandemic

Many Muscovites are desperate to recreate the travel experience lost to coronavirus. Budget airline Pobeda has sold-out a second ‘flight to nowhere,’ a one-and-a-half-hour round trip beginning and ending in the Russian capital.

The first flight, on December 19, cost 7499 rubles ($100) per ticket. All 189 seats on the Boeing 737-800 plane were sold out in just 2 minutes, leaving behind scores of frustrated travelers. The airline soon announced that tickets for a second flight would then go on sale, for December 20. They were also immediately snapped up.

The flights will take off from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, landing in the same spot less than two hours later.

Aside from the novelty of air travel during the coronavirus pandemic, another attraction is that the aircraft will be piloted by famous plane blogger Alexey Kochemasov.

According to Kochemasov, standard rules will be enforced, including compulsory masks, but the tickets will include small gifts, and a photo opportunity with crew members.

Kochemasov is also a podcast host, where he answers questions such as “What happens in the cockpit while you are drinking coffee?” and “How do ground services work while you check-in and board the plane?”. 

Pobeda is not the first company to offer novelty flights. Taiwan’s Tigerair offered a sightseeing flight over the island of Jeju in September, before landing back in Taiwan shortly after. 

Pobeda is a low-cost airline and subsidiary of flag carrier Aeroflot, the largest in Russia. Despite only being launched in 2014, it is now the country’s third most popular airline. In November, Pobeda made international headlines when two pilots drew a phallus in the sky in support of national football captain Artem Dzyuba, after a video of him pleasuring himself was leaked online.  

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