Each year, hundreds of ‘ghost flights’ take off with just a handful of passengers. Here’s how to boost your chances of finding one.
There are two holy grails of air travel, moments of such unexpected serendipity that they are recounted to friends and family for years to come. The first is the, when, usually at the check-in desk, you’re informed that, due to your frequent-flyer status – or simply your dashing good looks and fancy suit – you needn’t spend the next nine hours with your kneecaps in your face like the rest of the plebs.
Before 2000, a passenger load factor of around 70 per cent was the norm. In 2005, according to the International Air Transport Association , the global average was 75.1 per cent; in 2011 it was 78.1 per cent; in 2019 it reached a record high of 82.6 per cent. This means that, on a typical flight with room for 200 passengers, only around 35 seats will be empty.
In some parts of the world, summer is when planes are most likely to be full and winter is when the number of empty seats is at its highest. This is particularly the case in Europe, though in the Asia-Pacific region, and on Australian domestic routes, the difference is quite small. The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority data confirms that opting for an offbeat route can pay dividends. During the first quarter of 2023, for example, every flight from Gatwick to Mauritius had at least 50 passengers on board, as did 99 per cent of flights from Heathrow to Barbados. Surprise, surprise: flights to tropical idylls during the peak winter season are usually full.
Ott added that disruption often creates the empty-flight scenarios that garner headlines: “I’ve experienced them myself during irregular operations, when a flight had been cancelled or heavily delayed and only a few stragglers remained and ended up on the plane.” Every cloud has a silver lining.
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