Southwest Airlines undertook 56 flights last week without any passengers.

Due to the COVID-19 repercussions, Southwest has had to reduce its flights to an absolute minimum as the airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Mike Van de Ven commented “We expect our flying to be reduced by roughly 50 percent over the next couple of months – and we will likely need to do more.”

Van de Ven stated that the airline is operating with very few passengers, only continuing air travel when it is critical to move around cargo with government aid which has been provided to airlines.

Ryanair has also operated “ghost flights” with a spokesperson of the airline stating that “to ensure our aircraft are serviceable for both passenger repatriation flights and essential flights for the transportation of urgent medical supplies, some of our crew and aircraft must remain available and serviceable.”