Antarctica Flights: Australian Sidetrip?

The flight to where you came from

Antarctica Flights, operated by Croyden Travel in conjunction with Qantas, specializes in one-day excursion flights over Antarctica. You can board in Melbourne or Sydney on a flight that lasts around twelve hours and lands where it takes off.

Chris Johnson of The Age took a New Year’s Eve flight. He reported that although these flights have been occurring since 1994 (they’ve made 87 flights and flown 30,000 people over Antarctica), this last NYE flight was the first time an airbus A380 — seating 450 passengers — was used. The prices ranged from AUD $999 to $6000.

According to Antarctica Flights’ website, the experts you fly with “include scientists, glaciologists, explorers, adventurers or mountaineers.” On the NYE flight, you would have been dancing in the aisles to jazz music while the endless ice passed beneath you.

And the environment?

Besides donating $500,000 to various charities, Croydon Travel offsets their offices’ carbon footprint and offers passengers the opportunity to do the same.

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Exorbitant prices aside, would you do this? Or do you agree with Tim that a visit to Antarctica needs to be earned?

And is this responsible tourism?