Unable to fly, travelers hop on flights to reach nowhere

First Airlines, which prides itself as the "World's First Virtual Aviation Facility," aims to give passengers a complete flying experience. In this quest, it has built its aircraft just like the real one.

Passengers get "boarding passes," there is an airport, and flight attendants make in-flight announcements as well.

As per Washington Post, each ticket costs $62 (approximately Rs. 4,640).

Upon boarding the 'flight', each passenger is given a VR headset which takes them on a virtual tour of countries and cities such as New York, London, New Zealand, Helsinki, etc.

There is also a curated onboard menu to choose from.

Every listed destination has its own menu card; for example, New York's "travelers" get clam chowder and cheesecake while Hawaii's get poke.

While the Tokyo company gives passengers a virtual trip, EVA Air, a Taiwanese company, satisfies their travel cravings by taking them nowhere.

This Father's Day, EVA Air's Sanrio-themed aircraft took passengers to witness the Taiwanese coastline and Japan's Ryukyu Islands.

The flight didn't land anywhere, just hovered over the "destinations," before returning to the Taoyuan Airport it took off from.

The experience cost $180 (approximately Rs. 13,470).

Notably, First Airlines started its virtual reality flights in 2017. And after the pandemic, bookings have gone up by 50%.

EVA Air, on the other hand, is yet to confirm when or whether it will serve another flight like the one on August 8, but hopes are high as the quarantine norms in Taiwan, which has defeated the virus, are rather strict.