Highlights of Hi Fly's first-ever A340 flight to Antarctica

The Image Above: Hi Fly's Historic Flight Crew taking a selfie in Antarctica - Photo Source: HiFly 

Portuguese charter airline, Hi Fly, made history in early November 2021 by landing the first-ever Airbus A340 on the Antarctic continent, thus becoming the first Airbus four-engine aircraft to operate a flight in Antarctica.

Hi Fly's A340 (registered 9H-SOL), performing flight 5M801, took off from Cape Town, South Africa, towards Antarctica on November 2nd, as we can see from the data obtained through AirNav RadarBox.

The Image Above: HiFly flight 5M801 data tracked via RadarBox.com

Hi Fly Fleet Utilization Statistics on AirNav RadarBox:

The Image Above: Aircraft & Fleet Utilization Statistics provided by AirNav RadarBox

Hi Fly Route Heatmap on AirNav RadarBox: 

The Image Above: Route Heatmap provided by AirNav RadarBox

The mission to the South Pole was led by Hi Fly Commander and Vice President Carlos Mirpuri, with the iconic Airbus A340-313HGW (9H-SOL) landing on the icy runway at Wolfs Fang, Antarctica, after taking off from Cape Town for Antarctica on a 2,500 mile (4,630 km) flight. In total, Hi Fly's A340 has been flying for 5 hours and 10 minutes from South Africa to Antarctica, carrying 23 people on board, most of them tourists.

Never has an A340 has landed or flown to Antarctica; this is a historic achievement is exclusive to Hi Fly. The short stay at Antarctica lasted only 3 hours before the aircraft headed back to South Africa.

The 275-tonne aircraft was carefully chosen for this flight given the A340's good performance in extreme conditions, plus the operational range and the 4-engine redundancy ensured the reliability of the wide-body aircraft for this kind of operation. 

The Image Above: Commander Carlos Mirpuri - Photo Source: Hi Fly

The Image Above: HiFly's Airbus A340-313HGW (9H-SOL) in Antarctica - Photo Source: Hi Fly

The Image Above: HiFly's Airbus A340-313HGW parked on the runway at Wolfs Fang - Photo source: Hi Fly

The Image Above: HiFly's Airbus A340-313HGW parked on the runway at Wolfs Fang - Photo source: Hi Fly

The Image Above: HiFly's Airbus A340-313HGW (9H-SOL) in the South Pole - Photo Source: Hi Fly

The Image Above: HiFly's Airbus A340-313HGW parked on the runway at Wolfs Fang - Photo source: Hi Fly

Here is a video released by Hi Fly on Monday (22) showing behind the scenes of the historic flight. Check it out here:

Congrats, Hi Fly! Parabéns, Hi Fly!