For the first time in the history of aviation, Airbus arrived in Antarctica with the company Hi Fly specialized in charter flights. The aircraft used for this operation was an Airbus A340 model that traveled a distance of 4,600 km from Cape Town airport in South Africa to Wolf’s Fang airfield in Antarctica.
This flight was commissioned by the new luxury adventure camp and its mission was to move all the necessary supplies to the resort belonging to the White Desert tourism company.
Source: https://conocedores.com/el-video-que-muestra-el-aterrizaje-del-primer-airbus-a340-en-la-antartida-49231
The runway at Wolf’s Fang airfield is cataloged as a Level C airport, which means that only highly specialized crews can land there, as the glare from the blue ice runway can impede correctly viewing the exterior and even the instrumentation of The aircraft. For this reason, pilots must use special equipment, and the runway must be prepared by carving grooves along the runway with special machinery that allows the plane to brake correctly.
Source: https://simpleflying.com/es/airbus-hi-fly-antartida/
Since there are no aviation refueling stations in Antarctica, the aircraft had to transport approximately 77 tons of fuel, enough to complete the 5 hr and 30-minute journey that the flight lasts without problems.
The Wolf’s Fang airfield, baptized with the IATA code, WFR was licensed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s and functioned as an alternative runway to the Novolázarevskaya airfield located on the land of Queen Maud at 1,130 meters above sea level.
This first flight carried 23 passengers, including tourists and scientists, and took off on November 2 at 8:19 a.m. local time in Cape Town and it is expected that this aircraft will be the one that will be used during this season to transport tourists to the camp on the southernmost continent on earth.
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