Air Berlin operated their annual arctic sightseeing flight which includes segments at Svalbard, the North Pole and eastern Greenland. Apparently Lufty operated two similar trips by B-707 in 1977. Qantas do Antarctic sightseeing flights, and Air NZ did in the 70s until the horrific TE901 disaster.
Any other cases of sightseeing using a jet? Not a prop liner (well those are welcome for context) but curious about other uses of jetliners for sightseeing. Thanks!
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Sightseeing in a jetliner
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Air NZ recently did a Aurora (Southern Lights) sightseeing flight on a 767, just before retiring them.
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
BA Concorde operated infrequent sightseeing supersonic trips to Iceland, a few videos of them on YouTube.
AF Concorde had their round-the-bay supersonic flights for quite some time... not really sight-seeing, but an easy way to try Concorde for a much cheaper price than the NYC service.
AF Concorde had their round-the-bay supersonic flights for quite some time... not really sight-seeing, but an easy way to try Concorde for a much cheaper price than the NYC service.
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Transavia had a sightseeing flight over the Atlantic during the eclipse on 20 march 2015. The 737-800 departed Amsterdam and flew north towards the Faroer islands and the area where the eclipse would be. There they flew around to give everyone a good view over the eclipse and after it was gone they returned to Amsterdam.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Didn't Northwest do one (or a couple) arctic flights?
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- AirlineCritic
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Aren't they *all* sightseeing flights? At least I take them as such... still can't not get excited about night flight landings above the city lights, for instance.
Also, some history of accidents:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Z ... Flight_901
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911
Also, some history of accidents:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Z ... Flight_901
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911
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- pollitt1985
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
I was once on a Qantas flight from MEL to SIN and we overflew Ularu, the pilot did a couple of turns so we could see it out of the window. That was pretty cool.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
paullam wrote:Didn't Northwest do one (or a couple) arctic flights?
Would love to know more about that! I guess it's totally possible out of Minneapolis (for that matter Detroit too), as close as can be in the Lower 48 to the Arctic. I imagine roaring up there in a DC-10-40.
Good point about Northern Lights spotting trips. Bit of a needle in a haystack I should think. Air-Berlin and SAS have operated eclipse flights to the Arctic region too.
Keep em coming!
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
does those flights deviating their route to match solar eclipse path count? Solar eclipse could be count as a sight too.
and iirc there's a time in KIX that the airport want to reach the previously forecasted passenger count but was having a hard time to meet that number and thus they send out sight-seeing flights to inflate the passenger counts. Not sure are they jet flights thought.
and iirc there's a time in KIX that the airport want to reach the previously forecasted passenger count but was having a hard time to meet that number and thus they send out sight-seeing flights to inflate the passenger counts. Not sure are they jet flights thought.
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
cedarjet wrote:Any other cases of sightseeing using a jet?
Yes:
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
It happens quiet often here in Europe ... e.g. nice weather over the Alps ... many pilots decide to take a lower flight level and a deviation from the flight plan. this happened already 5 times to me at OS and LX (including explanations out of the cockpit about the mountains and summits).
KLM did some low circles with their MD-11 over Curacao during carnival, so that the passengers could see the carnival from above ("some" years ago).
Regular sightseeing flights are usually the flight mentioned above, and for sure New Years flights of airlines, in order to see the fireworks from above.
KLM did some low circles with their MD-11 over Curacao during carnival, so that the passengers could see the carnival from above ("some" years ago).
Regular sightseeing flights are usually the flight mentioned above, and for sure New Years flights of airlines, in order to see the fireworks from above.
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- RetiredWeasel
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
paullam wrote:Didn't Northwest do one (or a couple) arctic flights?
If you mean flights for 'sightseeing' only, I don't recall any during my tenure there and doubt it ever happened. If you mean 'polar routes', then NW was doing that since the 50's on their flights to Asia. Before Russia started granting overfly rights, the flights usually stayed fairly south overflying Alaska. Nowdays, Delta's (NW) flight from DTW to ICN flies fairly close to the North Pole. If you like white stuff you can look out the window and put your sunglasses on.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Many times on approach to BUF pilots would request permission to circle Niagara Falls at a low altitude so passengers can get a birdseye view. It was always a nice treat people enjoyed. These weren't scheduled sightseeing, but appreciated and enjoyed, especially by visitors.
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A300 A319 A320 BAE146 BAC111 DC8 DC9 DC10 MD80 707 717 727 737 747 757 767 777 787 L10 F27 F28 F100 ERJ CRJ SE-210 SSC B1900 ATR42 ATR72 DH8 E120 SWM
A300 A319 A320 BAE146 BAC111 DC8 DC9 DC10 MD80 707 717 727 737 747 757 767 777 787 L10 F27 F28 F100 ERJ CRJ SE-210 SSC B1900 ATR42 ATR72 DH8 E120 SWM
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Finnair has rented their planes a few times when groups or rich couples have wanted to fly and see northern lights in Lapland. Customers mostly come from Asia, I presume.
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- redzeppelin
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Alaska Airlines adjusted the schedule of their ANC-HNL flight last year to catch a solar eclipse over the Pacific. You can read about it here:
https://blog.alaskaair.com/alaska-airli ... se-flight/
https://blog.alaskaair.com/alaska-airli ... se-flight/
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- PlaneHunter
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Nothing's worse than flying the same reg twice!
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- Socrates17
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Alice Springs to Uluru and return on a QantasLink Dash 8 (dunno if 300 or 400) and on both inbound and outbound legs the pilots circled Uluru. I assume this is SOP, conditions permitting.
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
At one time - when Venezuela was a more palatable destination - a couple of airlines were offering flights to see Angel Falls. I believe AeroPostal had a jet flight... but that was more than a decade ago.
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Had a Delta flight years ago ONT-ATL ... there was some kind of hurricane force eastward tailwind that was so fast, it would have gotten us into Atlanta well over an hour ahead of schedule, and there was nowhere to put us that early ... so for about 30-40 mins we did figure 8's over the Grand Canyon.
Both sides of the plane got ample time for some incredible sightseeing.
Both sides of the plane got ample time for some incredible sightseeing.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
eisenbach wrote:It happens quiet often here in Europe ... e.g. nice weather over the Alps ... many pilots decide to take a lower flight level and a deviation from the flight plan. this happened already 5 times to me at OS and LX (including explanations out of the cockpit about the mountains and summits).
A few years ago I flew OS from VIE to ORD. One of the videos available on the IFE system was of a sightseeing "deviation" of a regular flight from VIE to Spain (don't remember which city). Was pretty cool.
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- redcap1962
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
OS offers New Year flights ex VIE around Vienna, take off at approx. 23:30 on Dec. 31, arr. around 0:30 on Jan. 1 since many years. They use low flight levels for watching the fireworks. Mostly even 2 planes circling or flying 8's at the same time, can also be seen on FR24! 2016/2017 they used 2 of their new Embraer Jets, before that Airbus metal.
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- Adipasquale
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
BUFJACK10 wrote:Many times on approach to BUF pilots would request permission to circle Niagara Falls at a low altitude so passengers can get a birdseye view. It was always a nice treat people enjoyed. These weren't scheduled sightseeing, but appreciated and enjoyed, especially by visitors.
I've flown into BUF many times, and this has happened once on a flight I was on, ORD-BUF on UAX. We were set to land very early, so captain announced we'd be making a scenic detour. We flew a few laps around the falls, then landed on time.
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Not technically for sightseeing, but on a flight back to the US from PVG and we were routed the "other way around" due to a volcano eruption in Alaska. We went over Mongolia, Russia, and Greenland, pretty amazing views of Greenland coming from the north.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
many years ago, my company sent me to ANC for a week to help our office staff up there. Was booked on Mark Air and it was just before they went out of business. The day of my return to SEA via JNU was one of those crystal clear days pilots dream about. Our pilot, knowing he'd soon be out of a job anyhow and had nothing to lose, headed NORTH out of ANC and took us about 3/4 of the way up to Denali to get a close-up view. Then instead of flyimg out over the Gulf of Alaska en-route to JNU, he hugged the coast giving us all a specatular look at both Wrangell-St. Elias and Glaciaer Bay National Parks, all bathed in that gorgeous late afternoon goldne sunlight. Unquestionably the greatest flight of my life.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Our Aerolineas Argentinas flight departing IGR offered the most spectacular aerial views of Iguazu Falls from the port side of the jet. One of my more memorable seat choices.
I love dem planes....
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
America West A-319 KLAS-KSJC at night years ago -- climbing out of Las Vegas the captain suggested that those of us on the right side of the airplane might want to check for any strange activity over Area 51. (Same rotund captain who a few minutes earlier announced that, when he entered the flight deck, he had seen a small mobile device in his seat and realized he had been replaced by a Palm Pilot.)
"You're sitting. In a chair. In the SKY!!" ~ Louis C.K.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Qantas has Antarctic sightseeing flights
http://www.traveller.com.au/qantas-jumb ... ica-12htsi
http://www.traveller.com.au/qantas-jumb ... ica-12htsi
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Have been on more than one Alaska or Horizon flight that detoured a bit for a circle or two over Mt. St. Helens or Crater Lake. Great views!
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
N14AZ wrote:cedarjet wrote:Any other cases of sightseeing using a jet?
Yes:
What, not even any heat in the planes? Interesting...those interiors are two different planes. Hmmmm......
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
There have been "sightseeing" flights on IR 747 SP and 741 over Germany in 2005 and 2006, organized by Airevents who later organized the polar flights mentioned above.
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- aemoreira1981
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
I'm surprised that FI doesn't consider such for the northern lights using TF-FIU.
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- Jetxdammit
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
cedarjet wrote:Any other cases of sightseeing using a jet? Not a prop liner (well those are welcome for context) but curious about other uses of jetliners for sightseeing. Thanks!
Got the most amazing aerial tour of Birmingham in a DC-10
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
In recent years BA and BA CityFlyer have operated charter flights out of EDI, GLA and LGW to view the Northern Lights. Short term predictions of their occurrences are usually accurate because the lights are associated with increased and observable solar wind activity.
The BA flights have all been to areas either south of the Faroe Islands or west of the Shetland Isles. Each has included between three and five wide east-west elongated circuits giving opportunities to view the lights from both sides of the aircraft.
The last of these flights were on 18 and 19 March this year. They were both operated bt CityFlyer E190s.
The BA flights have all been to areas either south of the Faroe Islands or west of the Shetland Isles. Each has included between three and five wide east-west elongated circuits giving opportunities to view the lights from both sides of the aircraft.
The last of these flights were on 18 and 19 March this year. They were both operated bt CityFlyer E190s.
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- Luxair747SP
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Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
Luxair did some sightseeing flights on the E145 during the airport festival in SCN.
Re: Sightseeing in a jetliner
I got an unusual approach into LGA one time on a Colgan Beechcraft. We circled Manhattan at very low altitude several times on a sunny July day, the view was majestic, the spires of the Chrysler building and Empire State twisted beneath us just a few hundred feet.
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