Qatar Airways has shown its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month by getting one of its 787s to ‘draw’ a symbolic pink ribbon in the sky, writes Stephen Kuper.
Flight QR9901 took a special route to create the ribbon image above Qatar, with its unique flight path being displayed in real-time by popular flight tracking sites.
The ‘Think Pink’ flight was exclusively operated by women – from the ground operations, technical, and dispatch teams to the flight deck and cabin crew.
The @qatarairways all-woman crew has finished drawing a ribbon in the sky.
View the playback of the flight at https://t.co/bCmrDylpCM #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/3atmMHRXaB
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 17, 2020
QR9901 took off from Hamad International Airport (HIA), on Saturday, 17 October at 9:00am local time, and landed back 65 minutes later after completing its special flight.
On-board the 787, female passengers – who were invited as special guests of the airline – received an exclusive ‘Think Pink’ service including an announcement from the captain, pink-themed food and beverage treats along with Qatar Airways ‘Think Pink’ wristbands and limited-edition pink BRICs amenity kits.
The unusual flight path attracted the attention of many people who tracked the Qatar Airways flight throughout its duration and tuned in live to watch QR9901 drawing the Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Ribbon in the skies above Qatar.
Qatar Airways’ chief executive Akbar Al Baker said, “Qatar Airways is a very strong supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all the incredibly hard work that goes into research and development to help beat breast cancer. Together we hope to reach as many people as possible, and help save lives.”
Flight QR9901 is the latest in a month-long program organised by the airline in October to raise awareness of breast cancer prevention and control.
Earlier this month, Qatar introduced an exclusive ‘Think Pink’ experience for passengers in the sky as well in its lounges, offering custom-designed, limited-edition amenity kits and pink-themed special menus on select flights throughout the month of October.
In July, the final Qantas 747 flight went viral with more than 600,000 users sharing its kangaroo flight path on Twitter and Instagram.
In fact, during its first hour in the air, Flightradar24 reported that 150,000 users were tracking its journey in real-time as people tried to decipher what Captain Sharelle Quinn was attempting.
The now-iconic design measured 275 kilometres east-west and 250 kilometres north-south and took just under 90 minutes to complete.
Farewell, #Queenoftheskies✈️Today, the last 747 in our fleet, VH-OEJ departed Australia for the final time – adding a special display en roo-te to the US?#747farewell pic.twitter.com/KXzNKhxFOH
— Qantas (@Qantas) July 22, 2020
