HiFly’s Airbus A340 flies to Antarctica in partnership with White Desert.White Desert
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Travel company White Desert uses private jets to bring people from South Africa to their camps in Antarctica.
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The biggest option is the four-engine Airbus A340, which first landed on the ice in November 2021.
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Prices start at $14,500 per person for a one-day trip and go up to $104,000 for a multi-day stay.
There are two ways to get to Antarctica: on an expedition ship through the treacherous Drake Passage…
A chinstrap penguin with the Ocean Endeavor in Antarctica.Taylor Rains/Insider
See the interior of the Ocean Endeavor, a ship sailing to Antarctica. Rooms can cost upwards of $10,000.
…or skip the Southern Ocean altogether and fly.
Passengers, scientists, government officials and ground crew gather for a group photo on the purpose-built Wilkins Glacier Blue ice rink in front of the first Airbus A319 jet to carry passengers from Hobart, Australia to Antarctica in 2008.Torsten Blackwood/AFP via Getty Images
Several tour operators offer flights, including Silversea Cruises, a combination boat and plane that flies people to Antarctica and then stays there on a ship…
Silversea’s Conrad Combrink poses with the crew of Chile’s DAP Antarctic Airways at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.Julio Peña/Silversea Cruises
Source: Silversea Cruises
…and the camp operator White Desert, who offers private flights from Cape Town, South Africa, as day trips or multi-night tours to the continent.
The White Desert camp whichaway in Antarctica.White Desert
Enter Antarctica’s only luxury camp where tours to the South Pole cost $72,000
And the company isn’t just flying tourists to Antarctica in a swashbuckling plane — it’s landing a massive Airbus A340 on the ice.
HiFly’s Airbus A340 in Antarctica, flown to the continent in partnership with camp operator White Desert.White Desert
“One of our co-founders is South African, and with Antarctica only a 5-hour flight from Cape Town, it made sense for us to set up our base of operations here,” Patrick Woodhead, the company’s CEO and pilot, told Insider.
The ticketed passengers are given for their flight to Antarctica.White Desert
The aircraft type flew the 2,500 nautical miles from Cape Town to Antarctica for the first time in November 2021 and is operated by the Portuguese charter airline HiFly.
The first Airbus A340 to land in Antarctica.Hi Fly
An Airbus A340 has just landed in Antarctica for the first time ever – see the history of aviation on the 7th continent
“The redundancy of four engines and the very long range make it the ideal aircraft for this type of mission,” the company said in a press release.
The first Airbus A340 to land in Antarctica. Hi Fly
Source: HiFly
Operating alongside a Gulfstream G550, which also flies passengers to White Desert’s warehouse, the A340 can make the round trip without refueling.
Gulfstream G550 White Desert flies to Antarctica.White Desert
Source: White Desert
“Different aircraft have different strengths, and depending on our logistical and operational needs, we decide which aircraft to use,” Woodhead said.
A view out the window of White Desert’s Gulfstream G550 heading to Antarctica.White Desert
For example, the company flies a large number of scientists to and from research stations, as well as baggage, cargo and equipment, so the A340 would be better suited to these missions than the G550.
In partnership with White Desert, it flies to Antarctica in HiFly’s Airbus A340. White Des
For non-explorers looking to visit Antarctica and have money to burn, White Desert’s tours — including the flight — start at $14,500 per person for the 2024-2025 season.
A meal for The Greatest Day tourists. white desert
Source: White Desert
This is the company’s “Greatest Day” tour and flies people to the continent where they stay for about three hours before returning home.
white desert
Source: White Desert
Prices range from $45,000 to $104,000 for 6- to 8-night options and up to $1.25 million to buy out one of the entire camps, Woodhead told Insider
In one of the dining rooms at White Desert Camp in Antarctica.White Desert
Those making longer trips have the option of flying on White Desert’s third plane – ski planes that fly to the South Pole to see emperor penguins, which is another seven-hour flight from the camps.
She flies to the South Pole on the ski planes of the White Desert. white desert
For those scheduled to join the A340 charter, the ex-Emirates jet will offer 267 seats in First, Business and Economy Class, but passengers will be seated in Premium cabins.
HiFly’s Airbus A340 flies to Antarctica in partnership with White Desert.White Desert
Source: Planespotter
On board, guests are served meals and champagne while enjoying the beautiful view of the icebergs below and gliding in 24 hours of continuous daylight.
A view from the window of the Airbus A340.White Desert
Source: Sam Chui
Before any of those operations could begin, however, Woodhead said the company had to build everything from scratch after taking over operations from Wolf’s Fang Runway.
white desert
“We had to embark on our own scouting mission to uncover an ice rink that was said to be several decades ago,” he explained.
The first Airbus A340 to land at Wolf’s Fang runway in Antarctica. Hi Fly
The runway in question is the only all-private jet runway in Antarctica and is 196 feet wide and 8,200 feet long, or about 1.5 miles. That’s about half of New York-JFK’s longest runway.
Tourists on the runway at Wolf’s Fang in Antarctica. white desert
Source: White Desert
But it’s not easy to maintain. Woodhead said the company must prepare the runway for 22 hours before each landing to ensure it has the “right level of friction” for planes to stop.
HiFly’s Airbus A340 flies to Antarctica in partnership with White Desert.White Desert
Meanwhile, he went on to explain that everything from “roads, building structures, weather stations, car washes, communications infrastructure and more” was built from scratch.
white desert
But there’s one thing that’s uncontrollable and a challenging threat when flying to Antarctica – the unpredictable and ever-changing weather.
These photos, taken 25 minutes apart, show the author’s recent trip to Antarctica via cruise ship. The image on the left shows a sunny sky and we could see the mountains around us. The photo at right shows blizzard conditions with clouds blocking the landscape. Courtesy of HD Hunt
According to HiFly, a landing in Antarctica requires visibility and low winds to ensure safety. White Desert has a team of meteorologists who determine the best days to fly.
White Desert encourages guests to allow two days at either end of their trip to allow for time flexibility. HiFly
Source: White Desert
Woodhead emphasized the importance of making the right choice when it comes to weather, not only for passenger safety but also because operating costs can quickly increase.
Pilot Carlos Mirpuri lands in Antarctica with the first Airbus A340. Hi Fly
“If you make a mistake and launch a Gulfstream in bad weather, you’ve just burned at least $120,000,” he said. “Each hour of fuel is like gold.”
white desert
Woodhead went on to describe the sharp fuel price differential between South Africa and Antarctica, saying the cost per barrel ranges from $100 in Cape Town to $800 on the Antarctic runway.
white desert
The company also requires gas for its Antarctic fueling stations, which is sourced from a South African science vessel on the edge of Antarctica and transported across the Fimbul Ice Shelf.
The science ship that was used to transport fuel to the White Desert in Antarctica.White Desert
The journey is approximately 500 miles and takes a month. Because of the time, labor, and fuel shortages, costs skyrocket up to $5,000 a barrel, making these skiplane flights to the South Pole understandably expensive.
The transport vehicles used to transport fuel to the White Desert.White Desert
Because White Desert uses hazardous material in a very fragile landscape, it has taken measures to ensure wildlife and the environment are protected, such as: B. the CO2 compensation of his flights …
HiFly’s Airbus A340 flies to Antarctica in partnership with White Desert.White Desert
…and using sustainable aviation fuel, which “will significantly reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80 percent.” The company is currently facing a shortage of SAF, but plans to have it on all flights in the next 3-5 years to use.
United Airlines was the first airline to use 100% SAF on a passenger flight, and SAF is becoming a popular solution in the fight against climate change.United Airlines
United Airlines just became the first airline in history to operate a passenger flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel
Woodhead also told Insider that the company follows strict wildlife management protocols to ensure “everything from the physical environment, fauna and flora is protected at all times.”
A chinstrap penguin on a small iceberg in Antarctica, captured during the author’s recent cruise ship trip to the continent.Taylor Rains/Insider
What’s more, the company only accommodates about 250 people per season overall — far fewer than the 200 people per day that some cruise ship pads get.
Cruise tourists walking in Antarctica during the author’s recent voyage.Taylor Rains/Insider
I spent $5,700 to go to Antarctica on an expedition cruise ship. Here are 9 things I think everyone should know before they go.
While White Desert’s A340 charter marks the four-engine jet’s first deployment to Antarctica, it’s not the first widebody to fly to the continent.
HiFly’s Airbus A340 flies to its Camps.White Desert in partnership with White Desert
Icelandair’s charter subsidiary Loftleiðir flew a Boeing 767 in both 2021 and 2022 to ferry Norwegian scientists to the Troll Research Station in Antarctica.
Icelandair Boeing 767 in Antarctica.Icelandair
Source: Icelandair
Read the original article on Business Insider
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