55-Minute Grand Circle Helicopter Tour: Scenic Flight Over Glaciers with Landing

Embark on a breathtaking 55-minute helicopter tour over the stunning Mt Cook and Westland National Parks. Fly over glaciers and experience a thrilling landing. Don’t miss this bucket list flight!

Duration: 55 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Tasman Glacier - A 55 minute flight that flies right around Aoraki Mt Cook and over to the West Coast for stunning views of the Fox, Franz Josef and Tasman Glaciers. Includes a glacier landing for 10-15 minutes for great photos.
  • Franz Josef Glacier - Stunning views of the Fox, Franz Josef and Tasman glaciers, including a glacier landing
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What's Included
  • Headsets to hear the guide clearly
  • Live commentary on board
What's Not Included
  • Souvenir photos (available to purchase)
Additional Information

Embark on an unforgettable 55-minute aerial journey over Mt Cook and Westland National Parks in a helicopter, gliding over notable glaciers such as Fox, Franz Josef, and Tasman. This trip includes a glacier landing lasting between 10-15 minutes, providing the ultimate Southern Alps viewing experience and a must-do for any bucket list.
Please note,…

Location
Mount Cook Airport
Mount Cook Road
The airport is located 3 minutes prior to Aoraki Mount Cook Village on State Highway 80.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(32 Ratings)
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1 star
Colleen
Sep 28, 2024
Bucket List Helicopter Tour over Mount Cook and the Glaciers - Bucket list activity for sure on the incredible helicopter tour over the glaciers and Mount Cook! Between the wonderful views during the helicopter ride, to the magnificence all around when we landed on the Tasman Glacier, I was in awe of the sheer splendor before me. It was the perfect group size (8), and Roger (our pilot) did a masterful job of flying the craft, minimizing rocking and buffeting where he could, along with providing fabulous commentary on what we were seeing. He also pointed out the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, although we couldn’t see them given the low cloud cover. All in all, an incredible experience! I highly recommend this!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shaival1
Jul 16, 2024
Amazing! Extremely Safe! And above all extremely knowledgeable pilot!!! Would do the Grand Cirle all over again - The reception was really amazing and courteous. They explained everything extremely well. The pilot made us feel extremely safe and comfortable. The anxiety of getting on a helicopter was all gone before we boarded. Ben, our pilot was extra courteous and made us feel extremely safe throughout. He was also very knowledgeable about the wntire region and its history. Kudos!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Leavittlake
Feb 21, 2024
Breathtaking trip - This is a must do if you are visiting MT Cook. Mark Hayes was our pilot and he is highly skilled and showed us just breath taking views of Mt Cook. You will not be shortchanged for the Flight. Just Awestruck. Capt.D Even Michigan
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andrewri5406yx
Jan 31, 2024
Helicopter flight - Given the weather was crap on the day we originally booked the staff were very helpful with making changes and keeping us up to date. Pilot was fantastic the views where extrodinary, well worth doing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Raja_t
Dec 25, 2023
incredible - Incredible experience seeing top of MT. Cook and getting to land on the glaciers. Well worth the price!
Review provided by Viator
Seongmi_k
May 15, 2023
Joyful scenic helicopter ride! - Not a single minute was wasted. Stunning views, prime helicopter, and not noisy at all!! Every single minute felt like a once-in-a-life-time moment, for a newbie to helicopter like me 😊 we flew kinda (seemingly) close enough and and went above and between the glaciers. I feel it I had taken 25mins it would have made me felt quite short about the tour hehe the staffs were also super friendly and nice. Enjoy the fly!!
Review provided by Viator
Ronald
Apr 15, 2023
Great helicopter ride to view mount cook - Great experience. Mark was a great helicopter pilot. Great views of mount cook and the glaciers. Landing on a glacier was incredidible. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kastine_c
Apr 8, 2023
Epic flight over Mt Cook - We had a fantastic time! The weather was absolutely perfect! Great company that puts safety first. Awesome experience, was more impressive than we anticipated by far. After hiking the day before to Tasman Glacier and walking the Hooker track to the top, it was so awesome to see how big the Mt Cook land mass area really is. The glaciers are so huge, they go on and on! They was the best day of our 3 weeks in New Zealand.
Review provided by Viator
Jason_r
Feb 3, 2024
MEH - Our service from Inflight Ski Planes Limited was disappointing. We scheduled the 55 minute Grand Circle Tour. Two days before the flight we were told we had to take a tour an hour later than we booked due to our helicopter not being full. Then less than two hours before the scheduled flight we were told that our tour was canceled but we could take a 25 minute “Tasman Teaser” tour an md we would be refunded the difference (which we were within a few days). We arrived to the airport an hour before our flight to check in and there were dozens of people waiting for helicopter tours. They seemed to be from a very large group. We were placed with a family from this group for our tour. Our flight left 15 minutes after the scheduled time. While our pilot was competent in his skill, it seemed like he wanted to end his day quickly. After a snafu with the seatbelts we were off. Right away he said that he could not tell us much over the headsets due to all the chatter from other copters in the air. We ended up landing on top of a mountain (not a glacier) but since we were the last to leave in a group of 5 or 6 helicopters we had the worst position on the mountain for the view of Mt. Cook and the valley below. The tour said the landing was supposed to last 8 minutes, but when we landed our pilot said we have 5 minutes to look around. After we got back in the bird, he seemed to take a pretty quick and direct rout back to the airport. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a helicopter ride, but it was pretty underwhelming. We understand that weather concerns can change plans with helicopter tours, but it felt like we were just squeezed in with a much larger group. There are many other helicopter tours in the Mt. Cook area, from other small airports a little further away. If your driving in you’ll see them. I’d suggest checking out some others before booking with this tour company.
Review provided by Viator
Declan_o
Feb 16, 2024
Joke. Wouldn’t recommend. - Really poor customer service!! Original date cancelled due to rain, which I have no complaints over. Returned for rearranged date, to be told unable to do 55 minute flight but can do 25 mins. Agreed to this reluctantly. They said it was due to weather but more likely due how many rearranged flights they had to do. They then cancelled that flight! No attempt to rearrange or prioritise us given they already cancelled! Won’t even describe the chaos inside the building!!
Review provided by Viator
From $431
up to 15 guests
1 Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).