Carrier Norse Atlantic Airlines made history by delivering the first 787 to Antarctica, but can you buy plane tickets south? Photo / Norse
Carrier Norse Atlantic Airlines made history by delivering the first 787 to Antarctica, but can you buy plane tickets south? Photo / Norse
A Norwegian airline has made history, delivering the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner - with 330 passenger seats - to the ice.
Until now, the seventh continent has been only reachable via a very bumpy boat ride across the world’s roughest oceans or an equally uncomfortable flight in the netting of a C17 departing from Christchurch. Though, this hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of the fastest-growing and most remote bucket-list travel destinations on the planet.
Take it from someone who recently spent 72 hours on the Drake Passage, locked inside a bathroom - there is no convenient way to reach Antarctica. But this could soon be changing.
On November 16, Norse Atlantic Airways delivered the largest passenger plane to Antarctica. Arriving at the blue-ice runway of the Troll Airfield under the care of the Norwegian Polar Institute, flight N0787 from South Africa was one of the most tracked in history.
NAA CEO Bjorn Tore Larsen said it was a “great honour” and an “important and unique mission” to pilot the first narrow-body passenger aircraft to the last continent.
Of course, this was no ordinary flight. It was conducted to deliver 45 researchers and equipment to the Norwegian polar science programme. There were no tickets sold to the public.
The charter was made by the Norwegian Polar Institute as a way to lower the impact of Antarctic logistics.
NPI director Camilla Brekke said using modern aircraft was a more sustainable way of exploring the large, frozen continent.
“Landing such a large aircraft opens up entirely new possibilities for logistics at Troll, which will also contribute to strengthening Norwegian research in Antarctica,” she said.
Four companies offering tourist flights to Antarctica
NAA may not be selling tickets to Antarctica, but there are several charter carriers already running tourist flights south.
There are already several tour operators that run flights to the ice, particularly out of South Africa and South America.
In 2021, charter company HiFly delivered an Airbus A340-300 to the Wolf’s Fang runway in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.
Antarctica by private jet: The Wolf's Fang luxury polar camp. Photo / Kelvin Trautman, White Desert
Expedition tour company White Desert runs luxury camps and charter flights to parts of the continent below Cape Town using Airbus and Gulfstream G550 passenger planes.
This includes the day trip to Antarctica, a 10-hour round trip for three hours on the ice which will set you back a cool $23,600 per passenger.
The Antarctic Ice Marathon 2023 is due to take place on December 14 at the Union Glacier. Photo / Rodolfo Soto, ALE
In Chile, charter company Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) have been providing flights to the ice for explorers and researchers since 1985. They have gone on to take tourist expeditions to the Union Glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula via Boeing 757s flying out of Punta Arenas.
They provide transport and logistics for tourists and events such as the Antarctic Ice Marathon, which will take place on December 14 this year.
Current offerings include a five-day Antarctic Odyssey trip with flights, accommodation and guides from $48,999 per passenger.
A more modest option is a scenic sight-seeing flight - charter Qantas employs a 787 to fly over the ice. Antarctica Flights runs tours from Australian airports at A$1200 a seat, which continues to be a popular bucket-list travel option.
New Zealand, which is also well-placed to reach the southern continent, does not offer flights over Antarctica. There has been a hiatus on granting civil aviation charters over Antarctica since since the Erebus disaster, 44 years ago, on November 28 1979.
Viva Expeditions’ “Southern Lights by Flight” offering, which uses a chartered Air New Zealand Boeing 787 out of Christchurch, might be the next best thing. Passengers are taken to see the Aurora Australis over the sub-Antarctic - however, the flight cannot go below 60 degrees latitude South.
