Milford Sound Scenic Flight with Landing from Queenstown

15 min

On arrival that the Air Milford base you will meet your pilot, for a full pre-flight briefing, before embarking on your 35 minuet scenic flight over the Southern Alps, to Milford Sound. The flight time to Milford Sound is 35 minuets.

After takeoff, view Coronet Peak, one of New Zealand's premiere ski fields.

Fly over the Shotover river and Skippers canyon, this is where gold was discovered in the 1860's. This river became the world's 2nd highest gold bearing river in the world, next to the Klondike in Alaska.

Fly over the small settlement of Glenorchy, located at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Here you enjoy wonderful views of two braided river mouths joining the lake. The two rivers are the Dart and the Rees, both glacial fed, display wonderful colors as they mix with the lake.

Fly over the dense beech forest of the Routeburn and Hollyford. valleys. One of new Zealand 'great walks' traverses the Routeburn valley, its a 3-day hike through the valley and over an alpine pass into Fiordland National Park.

Fly over the main divide of the Southern Alps and into Fiordland National park. One of the first sights you will encounter on arrival in Fiordland National Park is Mt Tutoko, at over 8,900ft / 2,700meters it is Fiordland's highest peak. There are two main glaciers to view here, the Donne and the Age.

View the highest peak in Milford Sound, Mitre Peak. It impressively rises directly out of the water of the fiord, to it's summit at 5,560ft / 1,690 meters, which is just over a mile of vertical gain!

Fly the full length of the fiord, right out to the Tasman sea where you will turn and descend, before coming into land. This part of the flight really makes you appreciate the sheer size of the towering cliffs of the fiord, which rise over a mile high in some parts!

2 hours

After landing in Milford Sound, your pilot will point out the way to the short walk along the shoreline and to the Milford Sound Cafe. Your pilot will give you a time to meet back at the airport and then you can enjoy exploring Milford at your own pace. Spend the next two hours self-guided, exploring the shoreline of the fiord, or head to the cafe, for a coffee and snack.

From the shore, view the Bowen Falls, it is one of Milford Sound's two permanent waterfalls and at 530ft / 162 meter is it's highest.

Meet your pilot back at the airport to commence your scenic flight back to Queenstown. The flight time is a further 35 minuets and traverses a different route.

After taking off in Milford Sound the flight path first takes in another view of the fiord, before tracing south, down the Arthur valley. At the head of this valley, the Sutherland Falls can be viewed, this is New Zealand's highest waterfall, falling impressively 1,900ft / 580 meters to the valley floor below.

The flight path then begins to track east over the Southern Alps and back towards Queenstown. New Zealand's second largest lake, lake Te Anau can be viewed stretching out to the south.

After once again crossing the main divide of the Southern Alps, taking in stunning views of small alpine lakes and jagged snow capped mountains, the route then traverses the densely forested Greenstone and Caples valleys.

After emerging from the Greenstone valley, fly over Lake Wakatipu. Lake Wakatipu is New Zealand's longest lake at 46 miles / 75 kms, it is also incredibly deep, up to 1,250ft / 380 meters at some points! Queenstown is nestled on the lake's shores, so some great views of the town are enjoyed before landing.

View the Walter Peak high country station, which is one of New Zealand's largest merino sheep farms.

15 min

View the Remarkable mountain range and Queenstown, before landing back at the Air Milford base for your drop-off back to your accommodation.