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Antarctica flight marks aviation first
A Qantas Airbus A380 super jumbo will operate a unique sightseeing flight to Antarctica on New Year’s Eve.
It will be the first commercial flight by an A380 over the south polar region, and the only aircraft permitted to do so on New Year’s Eve.
The flight, organised by Melbourne-based Antarctica Sightseeing Flights, will originate in Sydney and fly via Melbourne to reach Antarctica.
Passengers will be over the “ice†at midnight and be the first in the world to see the light of the new year.
The chartered A380 will fly figure-eight patterns above the polar terrain for up to four hours before heading back to Melbourne and Sydney.
Two other Antarctic flights are also planned for the southern summer – a second A380 service direct from Sydney on January 24 and a Boeing 747-400 from Melbourne on Valentine’s Day, February 14.
Senior Qantas pilots operate all flights.
“Antarctica is the world’s coldest, driest and windiest continent, and the fastest, most comfortable way to view it is from the air, which maximises viewing but leaves not a single footprint,†said Antarctica flights founder Phil Asker, whose company has operated 85 Antarctic flights from Australia since 1994, all with Boeing 747 aircraft chartered from Qantas.
Pricing from Sydney and Melbourne for the New Year’s Eve flight ranges from AU$999 for an Economy Class Centre seat to AU$6,299 in First Class.
The inaugural A380 sightseeing flight from Melbourne to Antarctica on New Year’s Eve will take about 11 hours and cover some 9,500 kilometres.
By Travelmole Asia
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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