Photo: lux3000/Shutterstockwinter

Fly Above Chernobyl in This Aerial Tour of the Site of the Worst Nuclear Disaster

News Airports + Flying
by Eben Diskin Apr 21, 2021

There are many ways to visit Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, but this aerial tour of the Exclusion Zone is unique. A flight operated by Ukranian International Airlines will take place on April 25 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe.

For $106, passengers will board an Embraer 195 plane from Kiev’s Boryspil Airport, for a flight above Kyiv and Chernobyl for birds-eye views of the Exclusion Zone around the power plant. The aircraft will be flying at the lowest altitude possible (3,000 feet) for passengers to get an eyeful of the area. A professional guide will provide passengers with details about the terrible 1986 accident.

Passengers on the commemorative flight will also have the opportunity to take a photo in the cockpit and a selfie with the pilot. They’ll also be entered into a drawing to win a one-day tour of the Exclusion Zone.

Flights to nowhere have become somewhat of a trend during the pandemic, but their environmental impacts have been severely criticized.

Bohdan Skotnykov, UIA’s head of project for the tour, told CNN, “To be honest, this tour was made possible only due to the pandemic. There is an available aircraft and our team has some free time to do creative projects.”

Discover Matador