9 passenger airliners that have landed on Antarctica's rugged runways made out of blue ice
- Every year, hundreds of scientists, athletes, and tourists travel to Antarctica on passenger jetliners.
- These planes land on rugged, unpaved runways mostly made of blue ice and compacted snow.
Antarctic aviation dates back to 1928 when famed Australian military pilot George Hubert Wilkins flew a tiny Lockheed Vega 1 monoplane across 1,000 miles of previously uncharted white desert.
After nearly 100 years of exploration and innovation, jet-powered passenger airplanes now ferry hundreds of people like scientists, athletes, and deep-pocket vacationers to and from Antarctica each year.
These aircraft land on one of the several unpaved runways scattered across the continent, which are typically made of hard blue ice or compacted snow.
The landing strips — combined with the barren landscape's infamously harsh weather conditions and lack of infrastructure — make flying in Antarctica particularly challenging.
Still, operators have successfully landed planes as big as the Airbus A340 on the seventh continent.
Here are nine passenger airliners that have flown to Antarctica, where, and who they flew:
Skytraders' Airbus A319
Operated by Australian airline Skytraders on behalf of the Australian Antarctic Program, long-ranged Airbus A319 aircraft have operated regular service to and from Antarctica since 2007, carrying passengers and cargo.
The first mission was from Christchurch, New Zealand, to the US Antarctic base at McMurdo. And the jet didn't arrive empty-handed as it carried 3,000 pounds of mail and parcels onboard to deliver to the station.
According to AAP, the successful operation demonstrated commercial aircraft could efficiently handle the extreme conditions of Antarctica.
Today, the service typically originates in the city of Hobart on Australia's island state of Tasmania and lands on a glacial ice runway called the Wilkins Aerodrome — a six-and-a-half-hour flight.
PrivatAir's Boeing 737 and Smartwings' Boeing 737 MAX
Commissioned by the Norwegian Polar Institute, Swiss airline PrivatAir landed a Boeing 737 for the first time in Antarctica in 2012, journeying about six hours from Cape Town, South Africa, to Troll research station.
NPI is Norway's government institute for researching, mapping, and monitoring the Earth's Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Similar to AAP, the goal of PrivatAir's historic 737 landing was to prove that an airliner could be a better option for ferrying researchers to the continent — particularly those from NPI who are regulars to Antarctica.
PrivatAir's Boeing 737s returned to the white continent a handful of times as resupply missions for NPI before the company ceased operations in 2018.
Boeing's latest 737 variant has also made an appearance in the world's southern-most continent.
In January 2022, NPI tapped Czech airline Smartwings to charter its scientists to Antarctica — and for the first time, a 737 MAX landed at Troll.
Loftleider Icelandic Airlines' and Titan Airways' Boeing 757
In 2015, Icelandair Group's charter subsidiary Loftleider Icelandic Airlines landed an extended-range Boeing 757 passenger jet at Union Glacier in Antarctica.
It was the first time the jet type landed on one of the continent's blue ice runways.
The historic flight, ferrying 60 tourists from Chile in business class seats on behalf of transport company Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions, was another demonstration of the viability of commercial jets in Antarctica.
A Loftleider Icelandic 757 also flew to the seventh continent twice in 2021 to ferry scientists at the start and end of the Antarctic summer season. Another Loftleider 757 is set to ferry Antarctic Ice Marathon runners to Union Glacier this December.
Another charter airline, UK-based Titan Airways, also operated an all-business-class 757 to Antarctica — this one carrying runners for the 2020 World Marathon Challenge.
The jet, equipped with extended legs on the landing gear to help absorb the shock of the blue ice runway, landed at the Russian Antarctic research station called Novolazarevskaya.
Loftleider Icelandic Airlines' and Titan Airways Boeing 767
After its successful missions using a 757, Loftleider Icelandic landed the first widebody Boeing 767 aircraft at Troll in January 2022.
The Icelandair-branded jet carried 21 people from NPI, flying from Norway to Antarctica via a refueling and rest stop in Cape Town.
A 767 returned again in February 2022 to drop off supplies and pick up Norwegian researchers heading home after the summer months.
Also once flying the 767 to Antarctica was Titan, which served Russia's Novolazarevskaya station during the 2019-2020 season.
Norse Atlantic Airways' Boeing 787
On November 15, European budget airline Norse Atlantic Airways made history when it landed a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Antarctica — the first of its kind to make the trek.
The aircraft ferried 45 Norwegian scientists and staff, as well as 12 tons of research equipment, to Antarctica's Troll research center on behalf of NPI.
According to Flightradar24, Troll spends two weeks preparing for these giant aircraft. This includes repairing deficiencies in the runway and ensuring the surface has the right friction level to stop landing planes.
Hi-Fly's Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 quad-engine jet made its first-ever landing in Antarctica in November 2021, being praised for its redundant four engines and long range.
The plane, which was formerly owned by Emirates, was operated by Portuguese charter company Hi-Fly and flew supplies to luxury tour operator White Desert.
The company runs an expedition camp on the seventh continent and operates its own ice runway called Wolf's Fang, which takes 22 hours to prep ahead of the A340 passenger landings, White Desert CEO Patrick Woodhead told Business Insider in February.
The company offers one of the few Antarctic charter flights open to the public, with the cheapest rates starting at $14,500.