Overflying the Antarctic

[spiggy_topes]

Idle curiosity type of question - I was looking at a globe and wondering if there are any scheduled commercial flights that overfly the Antarctic. Johannesburg to Auckland, or Sydney to Santiago perhaps? If not, which scheduled flights go furthest south?

 

[SeaWolf]

Idle curiosity type of question - I was looking at a globe and wondering if there are any scheduled commercial flights that overfly the Antarctic. Johannesburg to Auckland, or Sydney to Santiago perhaps? If not, which scheduled flights go furthest south?

I don't think there are any regular commercial flights that are actually going somewhere that fly over Antarctica, however, you can book sightseeing flights if you just want a look and are ok ending up back where you started.
Antarctica Flights: Welcome

 

[NM]

Idle curiosity type of question - I was looking at a globe and wondering if there are any scheduled commercial flights that overfly the Antarctic. Johannesburg to Auckland, or Sydney to Santiago perhaps? If not, which scheduled flights go furthest south?

It depends how you define "the Antarctic". There are not any that routinely overfly the south pole. However, depending on forecast winds there are some that go very far south. JNB-SYD can get pretty well south at certain times of the year. Nobody flies JBN-AKL, and to the bets of my knowledge no airline has operated that as a non-stop service (NZ and SA would be the only logical candidates).

The other route that goes the other side of the south pole is SYD-EZE. However, nobody flies that route non-stop currently. AR operate SYD-AKL-EZE which takes the routing further away from the south pole. QF used to operate that route using 747-300 and 747-400 aircraft with a codeshare agreement with AR, but that ceased quite a number of years ago.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Antarctic overflights trip report