Northern lights on plane.

[Winston1]

We're planning a trip to Vancouver late next year. We had hope to organise a trip to alaska to see the lights as well, but it's getting a little complex and costly as our main focus will be the rocky mountaineer. I was looking into EK for flights & a lot of them routed over the north pole presumably due to it being the shortest distance. Now I can't quite figure out if the flights will be over the arctic circle at the appropriate times,
So I was wondering if anyone else here has had experience in seeing the lights while in the air?
It's not a big deal, but it'd be great to see if it was possible and didn't cost me any more points.

 

[Pushka]

Seeing the lights is just one of those luck things. Apparently excellent viewing this year.

 

[Winston1]

I can imagine so. I'd like to plan a separate trip to Iceland specifically for the lights, but Canada first. ;-D

It also dawned on me that a lot of newer planes like the Emirates A380's have electronic blinds, so quite possibly wouldn't see them even if you flew right over them.. ;'(

 

[drron]

We have seen the Northern lights in Jasper in the Canadian rockies in September.
I also was lucky enough to see the Southern lights from a QF Dash 8 a few years ago heading into DPO.

 

[amaroo]

Not on a plane however, have seen the Nth Lights in Quebec and we're heading to Tromsø (Nth Norway) in January to do some light chasing.

 

[Scr77]

It's possible but Unlikely to be able to see from cabin. We had very strong auroras in Fairbanks Alaska in March. We could see the all the way to the airport even with the light pollution but could not see from the air. Keep in mind that the aurora will be above you - about 100kms above earth.

It's well worth making the trip.

 

[dmitri]

I don't know if this helps but there is plenty info and reports from flying with Iceland air.

Hekla Aurora | Icelandair.us

 

[Scr77]

Further to my post up thread, the Northern/Southern Lights peak and trough around a 13 year cycle and we are already on the downside of the current peak. Even in the trough, there will still be lights but they will be further apart and not as intense. This will make them hard to see on a vacation. If the lights are on your bucket list, I'd consider swapping the Mountaineer for Alaska if you can't do both. That's what we did as we knew the Mountaineer would be there in years to come. On the other hand, who knows where we will be in 13 years when the next aurora cycle comes along.

 

[drron]

The northern lights are as likely to be visible in the northern rockies as Alaska-

.

The limit dips over mid Canada.