My husband and I will be flying on New Year’s Eve, and arriving home in Malaysia on the first day of 2020. A first for us. We are either at home or out toasting the brand new year with friends at a hotel or a club. Not so much the latter in recent years. But more at home, especially as my mum, is a great fan of the spectacular fireworks that light up the Kuala Lumpur skyline at the stroke of midnight. This year, my mum is with sister number 4 in Brisbane. And, we will be in the airspace somewhere before our layover in Dubai.

I know it will be different. My hope is it will be interesting and memorable. The count down, bubblies, happy noises, cheerful people and Auld Lang Syne. A sense of esprit de corps in a confined space. Sister number 3 said there was merriment on Cathay Pacific Airways when she flew on New Year’s Eve, and arrived for the first time in England on January 1, 1976. With only a few days to go before our flight, I decided to check on my go-to library, Google.

Apparently, nothing much happens on scheduled flights. It seems airlines don’t generally do anything special to celebrate the new year. I was a tad disappointed. I guess the cabin crew have a job to do and it doesn’t include organising and managing a new year party in the air. Comfort, safety and keeping passengers fed and watered are their main responsibilities. I had an image in my head of an aerial party gone wrong – drunk and disorderly behaviour, not buckling up, messing up the aisles and toilets and being a nuisance to the crew and other passengers. Not nice.

As we are flying Emirates, I Googled the airlines’ website. It highlights almost all the celebrations during the year from the Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Eid al-Adha, Ramadhan, Diwali, Oktoberfest, Thanksgiving to Christmas[1]. But, no mention of the new year. Hmm… It might be a quiet welcome but I am still hopeful of some acknowledgement.

The omission or generally subdued airlines’ reaction could be because people are not overly excited about greeting the new year away from family and loved ones. I understand this. It is, after all, a time to enjoy, be together and reflect. Hence, those in the air are more likely to be business travellers, people with date and ticket issues and/or passengers who are not too bothered when they fly.

On firmer ground, event companies, hotels, clubs, restaurants and cafes offer attractive options to greet the new year. Concerts. Theme parties. Private parties. Special dance venues. Signature food, drinks and door gifts.  Revelling with abandon in wider and more open spaces. And, each year, countries from Japan to Malaysia to the US present stunning, bigger and better firework displays against the backdrop of iconic buildings to entertain citizens and tourists. And, garner recognition and mention in the global media.

That said, there are some people who purposely fly on New Year’s Eve to experience the special day twice. How? By flying across the International Date Line. With companies like Crystal AirCruises and PrivateFly. People with lots of money to spare.

The International Date Line (IDL) functions as a “line of demarcation” separating two consecutive calendar dates. When you cross the date line, you become a time traveller of sorts! Cross to the west and it’s one day later; cross back and you’ve “gone back in time[2].” This imaginary line paves the way to celebrate New Year’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions at least once on both sides of the boundary.

To welcome 2019, Crystal AirCruises’ New Year Double Countdown Celebration gave travellers the chance to celebrate New Year’s Eve once in Tokyo and again in Las Vegas. The company flew from Tokyo to Las Vegas, crossed the International Date Line, effectively turning back time by 24 hours. This enabled guests to celebrate New Year’s Eve in style, twice in one day at $26,000 per person[3].

In 2017-2018, another company called PrivateFly offered travellers the opportunity to live up New Year’s Eve – twice in one night – in Sydney and again in Honolulu, Hawaii. Made possible via its customised itinerary in the world’s fastest long range private jet, the Gulfstream G650ER. The fare was from $22,300 per person for a group of 13 like-minded passengers. Or $290,000 to charter the whole aircraft, one-way[4]. Nice but a tad too expensive.

We are flying on New Year’s Eve because the ticket price and schedule work for us, and work starts on 2nd January, 2020. Happy New Year family and friends.