Airline passengers bound for the Antarctic Circle couldn’t help but gawk at the Aurora Australis, which put on a spectacular show last Friday.
The eight-hour flight departed from New Zealand’s Dunedin Airport and flew around the icy continent to give 134 passengers a dazzling view of the Southern Lights, a night-sky display akin to the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights phenomenon in the Arctic Circle.
Some of the thrilled passengers shared their scenic videos and pictures on social media and inserted the hashtag #FlighTtoTheLights. Ian Griffin, director of the Otago Museum in New Zealand, shared snippets of his experience on Twitter saying, “Nice trip through the southern auroral zone tonight on Flight To the Lights. Naked eye Auroras were spectacular photographically.”
Brad Phipps and Stephen Voss, two lucky passengers who boarded the “flight to the lights,” posted their own snaps and clips of the view.
However, the exclusive flight that made non-passengers “green with envy” came with a hefty price for people like Griffin, Voss and Phipps. According to The Guardian, ticket prices of the flight cost NZ $2,000 (P70,500) for economy class and NZ $4,000 (P 141,000) for business class. The flight went on sale last September and ran out of seats after five days.
Aurora Australis happens when the solar wind tangles with the Earth’s magnetic field at the Southern pole. Deemed as one of the most picturesque events, tourists flock every year to gawk at the Northern Lights and Southern Lights.
Earlier this year, an Air Canada passenger recorded and uploaded footage of the Northern Lights while an Australian couple got engaged under the glow of the Northern Lights in Norway. Gianna Francesca Catolico /ra
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