Gathering Facts About Antarctica On Qantas Airlines

At Earth’s southern frontier is the continent of Antarctica. Inhabited largely by multitudes of penguins, seals, and other wildlife equipped to survive on the coldest, driest and windiest continent; Antarctica also boasts an official human population of zero. The Antarctic Treaty, ratified in 1959 by 12 countries including the world’s two superpowers at the time (the US and USSR), has been permanently set aside as a permanent reserve for scientific study. Several thousand scientists conduct ongoing research there and form the only Antarctic temporary human population. Antarctica is often referred to as the ‘frozen continent’ and rightfully so considering 98% of the surface is covered by ice averaging a thickness of 1.6 kilometers.

Traveling Antarctica

The isolation and desolate environment of Antarctica does not prevent travel opportunities to, or sightseeing flights over Antarctica. Qantas airlines of Australia seems to have this travel niche cornered and offers several flights over the great frozen continent. By receiving special permission from the nations who ratified the Antarctic Treaty, Qantas can offer these flyovers and has done so every year since 1994. There are two time periods offered for the flyover – one in December from Sydney, and one the following February from either Sydney or Melbourne – both on a Boeing 747-400 aircraft that features an upper deck with a lounge area. The flight lasts four twelve hours, consisting of four hours each to and from the frozen continent, and four hours over it. Also featured during the flights are presentations from Antarctic experts and in-flight informative videos about the land.

Antarctica Flight Activities

During the flights live radio links are established with some of the research bases and the scientists living there who share stories about what it’s like to live and work in the most unforgiving environment on the planet. There is even a camera mounted in the cockpit that allows passengers to view the entire flight with the pilot’s perspective. Qantas really has the passenger’s sightseeing desires in mind with these Antarctic flyovers. To ensure the best window viewing options for all passengers, Qantas has established a rotating seat system on these flights where at the halfway point of the excursion, passengers exchange seats to guarantee everyone has a window seat at some point during the flight. It should be noted, however, that a few passengers in the coach class cannot be guaranteed sole viewing time with a window seat due to how the seats are laid out in the coach cabin. Still, Antarctica is a wide expanse of territory that does not require staring straight out the window to see and even those seated in aisle seats will have excellent viewing opportunities.

Taking this journey also treats the passenger to maneuvers not normally made by 747s. The huge jet makes figure-eight passes over highlighted viewing points so passengers on both sides of the plane can see the areas from different perspectives. The aircraft also flies at a very low altitude of about 2000 feet above the ground. At this low altitude wildlife can be viewed in its natural habitat, the most natural habitat on Earth. These flyovers really offer a rare opportunity to experience Antarctica.

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