"Ghost flights" - nonsensical creations of a bureaucratic world

Delta Air Lines has admitted running "ghost" flights from the US to Heathrow to meet Australian quarantine regulations. Authorities in Australia require inbound aeroplanes to be sprayed with insecticide to ward off malaria and dengue fever. Delta is not allowed to carry out the treatment in the US and the nearest airport with facilities sanctioned by the Australian quarantine and inspection service (AQIS) is Heathrow...

A Delta spokeswoman said: "Materials used for this process are approved and available for use in the United States; however, according to US regulations, these treatments must be carried out at designated AQIS locations outside the United States."

The Campaign for Better Transport, an environmental group, said the round-trip taken by Delta's Boeing 777 jets operating the Los Angeles to Sydney route summed up the "wanton" attitude of airlines towards global warming...

"Global warming" considerations aside, the entire concept of flying a plane from the U.S. to the U.K. to do something that could just as easily be done in the U.S. reflects a bureaucratic mindset that I find utterly appalling.