by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 11:40 AM ET, Tue December 12, 2023
Antarctica is a bucket-list destination for many travelers—and for good reason. The White Continent is remote, rugged and stunningly beautiful.
But reaching Antarctica by cruise ship requires sailing across the Drake Passage, the infamous stretch of the Southern Ocean between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. If cruisers are lucky, they’ll experience the “Drake Lake,” when the water is relatively calm. The alternative is the “Drake Shake,” when waves can top 20 feet and sea sickness is all but guaranteed.
Now, Lindblad Expeditions is giving adventurous travelers a chance to skip the Drake Passage altogether. The expedition travel company will offer flights from Argentina to Antarctica starting in November 2024, reports Travel+Leisure.
The cruise line had long been considering whether to offer flights. But, ultimately, the company decided to wait until aviation technology had advanced enough to make flying to the continent more predictable.
“We had chosen not to do this for years and years and years because I was concerned about the reliability—not the safety—but the reliability of people actually taking off and landing as they were meant to,” said Sven-Olof Lindblad, the company’s CEO and founder, during the ILTM Cannes luxury travel conference in France last week.
In addition to allowing cruisers to bypass the Drake Passage, the flights shave off the roughly two days of sailing typically required to reach the continent. This means Lindblad will be able to offer shorter Antarctic itineraries—some as quick as eight days.
“There are people out there that just don’t have the time [otherwise],” Lindblad said at the conference.
Lindblad plans to roll out two new trips next year, the company revealed on Instagram. One is called “Antarctica Direct: Fly the Drake Passage” and will include roundtrip charter flights to and from the continent, each lasting about two hours. During the other itinerary, called “Antarctica Direct: Sail and Fly the Drake Passage,” travelers will sail to Antarctica, then return via a flight. On both trips, travelers will spend five days on the continent.
The itineraries will be offered onboard the National Geographic Explorer ship, which can accommodate up to 148 passengers in 81 cabins.
For the flights, the company will partner with air carrier DAP, which currently provides Antarctica flights for Silversea. Atlas Ocean Voyages also offers “fly and sail” trips to the White Continent.
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