Qantas scenic lunar flight to nowhere sells out instantly

The Qantas flight to see the supermoon sold it in just over two minutes. Photo / Corey Agopain, Unsplash

A Qantas one-off "flight to nowhere" has sold out in just two minutes – a record for the airline.

Earlier this week, Qantas announced a special flight to view the supermoon and lunar eclipse occurring on Wednesday, May 26 – giving passengers the best possible view of the event from a seat on their Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

But after just two-and-a-half minutes of online sales on Wednesday, all the tickets were snapped up.

Economy fares on the flight were $540, $970 for premium economy and $1615 for business class seat.

The lucky passengers will take off from Sydney Airport and climb to a cruising altitude of 43,000 feet, well above any clouds and away from the city's light pollution.

Qantas pilots have worked with the CSIRO to develop the optimal flight path over the Pacific Ocean to catch the supermoon in all its glory.

The flight will be piloted by Qantas' 787 fleet technical manager, Captain Alex Passerini.

"That moon is 240,000 miles [384,000km] away but we'll be about 12km closer to it, at about 40,000 feet," he said.

Fly by night: Qantas passengers will be treated to a luner eclipse on 26 May on the scenic flight. Photo / Miguel Carraca, AP

"We're working with the CSIRO to develop a flight plan that will give us the best viewing, making sure we get those times right for exactly when the lunar eclipse is going to be at its peak, so we can afford everyone on board the best possible view while that's happening.

"We'll be above the weather, getting that great view from the larger windows and not being subject to the light pollution in the Sydney area because that affects viewing."

Supermoons occur when the moon comes slightly closer to the Earth. The event on May 26 will be the second and final supermoon we'll see in 2021, following a so-called "pink" supermoon on April 27.

But it's the addition of a lunar eclipse that makes this space event a rare double phenomenon.

The moon will be at its closest point at 11.50am AEST on May 26, coming within 357,311km of Earth.

The total lunar eclipse will occur between 9.11pm and 9.25pm AEST, when the moon is 357,462km from Earth.

The experience is part of a series of themed flights by Qantas to draw travellers back to the sky.