A commercial Boeing 757 flown by Icelandic Airlines landed at Union Glacier, Antarctica, last Thursday. It was聽the first commercial flight to the continent, from tourism company Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE). ALE said the flight was 鈥渦ndertaken to prove the feasibility of landing commercial passenger airliners at Union Glacier.鈥
Union Glacier has served as a runway for many years, with the ALE transporting between 400 and聽500 passengers each season. But those flights were mostly made by cargo aircraft, and the passengers were primarily there to focus on research projects, .听
Tourists who wish to travel to聽Antarctica have traditionally arrived by boat through the Southern Ocean, departing from South Africa, Chile, or,聽in some cases, New Zealand.听