Why Heathrow Airport Had Empty Flights to Nowhere
Half as InterestingCited 3× on HN, 2020–2022
explainer · general · evergreen · 2020–2022 on HN
Half as Interesting explains why airlines flew empty 'ghost flights' out of Heathrow to keep their landing slots under use-it-or-lose-it rules.
Cited to show that empty slot-keeping flights predate COVID and Lufthansa's recent practice.
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3 comments from Hacker News
This existed pre-COVID but is more of a thing now. See Half as Interesting - Why Heathrow Airport Had Empty Flights to Nowhere (3 years ago, pre-covid) ▶ this video RealLifeLore2 also covered the same topic as the original submission: link
Yep. Featured on HAI a year ago, it's not a new practice it's just been exacerbated due to COVID-19. ▶ this video
Probably filling seats on unpopular routes that they would have to fly anyway. Perhaps in a similar situation to what's described in ▶ this video , where an airline was flying empty planes to hold their slot at Heathrow.