In August, the Guardian reported that Qatar Airways was flying 354-seat planes between Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia, even though there were few or no passengers on board.
According to the publication, the airline exploited a loophole in Australia’s aviation laws that allowed it to operate additional flights to Australia by registering its takeoff and landing location in one city but first flying to another.
What happens?
In many cases, Qatar Airlines would use multi-haul flights to hide its low-passenger flights.
For example, a flight from Doha, Qatar, to Melbourne had an additional stop in the Australian city of Adelaide, which was registered as the final destination. Passengers would disembark the aircraft in Melbourne, but some would remain in the terminal to begin the final leg to Adelaide.
The Guardian said these figures were typically in the single digits and domestic passengers were not allowed to purchase tickets on the Melbourne-Adelaide plane. A similar situation occurred in the second leg.
Such trips are often referred to as “ghost flights,” where planes take off at 10% capacity or less.
In this case, Qatar Airways operated these additional flights to avoid caps that allowed it to operate only 28 weekly flights to Australia’s major airports, including Melbourne. Landing at Adelaide Airport, which is not on this list as the final destination was, allowed the airline to have additional flights to Melbourne as there were no restrictions on flights to non-major airports.
Commenting on the situation, an industry source told the Guardian: “The whole purpose is to get to Melbourne… I mean they haven’t even sold tickets.” [to Adelaide] for the first few weeks. They have destroyed the industry and the laws.”
Why is this a problem?
Aviation contributes significantly to global pollution. According to the International Energy Agency, the industry was responsible for 2% of global energy-related carbon pollution in 2022.
If the plane carries almost no passengers, it is an environmentally damaging trip that seems completely unnecessary, not to mention exploitative of a country’s aviation laws. According to Greenpeace, annual pollution from “ghost flights” is equivalent to that caused by 1.4 million cars.
There were similar cases elsewhere too. For example, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many airlines continued to operate flights in Europe despite a lack of passengers in order to retain valuable airport slots.
According to The National, German airline Lufthansa said it operated 18,000 empty flights in the winter of 2021-2022 to ensure it did not lose out on lucrative deals that gave its planes seats at major airports.
What is being done about ghost flights?
Australia’s Department of Infrastructure and Transport has since stepped in to ensure passengers and cargo are allowed on previously almost empty flights between Adelaide and Melbourne, Bloomberg reported.
Ultimately, it is the task of the legislature to take measures to ensure that this practice is stopped. Above all, it is up to the airline industry to rethink its policies on how airlines can retain their airport slots without causing further harm to the planet.
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