The Reason Why Planes Don't Fly Over Antarctica

There's no place in the world like Antarctica. You'll find diverse wildlife, including emperor penguins, humpback whales, and elephant seals. The region is completely covered in snow, with massive icebergs, active volcanoes, and glaciers. While these sights are breathtaking, pilots rarely choose to fly their planes over Antarctica, and there are good reasons for that.

Many planes do travel over the Arctic region, flying between Europe and North America, Europe and Asia, and North America and Asia. The main reason for this difference is Antarctica's extreme weather. Additionally, limited Antarctica infrastructure and international aviation regulations play major roles.

However, it wasn't always the case that planes avoided Antarctica. In 1929, Richard Byrd became the first person to fly over the South Pole. After that, flights over Antarctica became more common. 

But things changed when Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed while on a sightseeing trip to Antarctica in 1979, claiming the lives of 257 passengers and crew members. After this, airlines began avoiding flights over Antarctica.

Antarctica is one of Earth's coldest places, with the lowest recorded temperature reaching minus 135.8 degrees in 2010. The freezing conditions come with unpredictable storms, extremely strong winds, and blinding blizzards. Antarctica often experiences whiteout snowstorms, which severely reduce visibility. All of this makes it very difficult for planes to fly over Antarctica. Low visibility and extreme weather were key factors in the crash of Air New Zealand's Flight 901 in Antarctica.

Another major issue is the difficulty commercial planes have in landing on ice and Antarctica's lack of infrastructure. Aviation facilities are extremely limited, which means that if a flight encountering an emergency needs to land, there are few resources to address the issue. Even the nearest airport with proper plane maintenance facilities – Guardiamarina Zañartu Airport in Puerto Williams, Chile — is about 2,422 miles from the South Pole.

There are two main reasons no significant aviation infrastructure has been built in Antarctica. The first is, of course, the extreme weather, which makes construction and maintenance difficult. The second is low demand. While the Southern Hemisphere contains 10%–12% of the world's population, most people there live near the equator. The only airplane routes near Antarctica connect New Zealand and Australia with southern parts of South America and Africa — and pilots on them usually fly close to the frozen continent only in extreme situations, such as avoiding strong headwinds.

The Extended Twin Engine Operational Performance Standards are another key reason planes avoid flying over Antarctica. The International Civil Aviation Organization uses ETOPS to regulate how far a twin-engine aircraft can go from the nearest airport in case of an issue, such as flying if an airliner loses one engine. 

For example, if a plane has an ETOPS-120 rating, it is allowed to fly routes that keep it within 120 minutes of flying time on a single engine from the nearest suitable airport. Since Antarctica lacks airports with proper infrastructure, and the nearest airport with adequate maintenance facilities is over 2,400 miles away, even planes with high ETOPS ratings — such as the Boeing 777 (ETOPS-330) or Airbus A350 (ETOPS-370) — avoid flying over the region.

Yet another reason is the strong magnetic field near the South Pole. The magnetic field in Antarctica interferes with aircraft's magnetic navigation systems and makes it more challenging for pilots to navigate properly in that region.

Though you'll rarely find a commercial plane flying over Antarctica, certain airplanes, such as research and military aircraft including the U.S. LC-130, do occasionally fly there. These are specially designed for extreme conditions. And companies like Swoop Antarctica offer charter packages so travelers can experience the continent.