Antarctica Bridge: The Quickest, Most Luxurious Way to Get to Antarctica
From the moment I arrived at the private terminal at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, I knew I was in for a treat. Not only had I never flown from a private airport terminal before, but here I was about to fly to the southernmost town in the world (Chile’s Punta Arenas) on an all-business class-configured jet on the “coolest” named airline in the world: Antarctica Airways.
All this is courtesy of Silversea Cruises’ Antarctica Bridge expedition voyage – the fastest, most luxurious way to get to the seventh continent.
Typically, travelers fly from the U.S., U.K. or Europe to Santiago itself, and spend a night in that dynamic city. The next day, we made our way back to the airport – to a private terminal, no less – where we flew on a private Silversea charter to Punta Arenas, Chile’s southernmost city. It’s the gateway city to Patagonia, along with Antarctica, and we got the chance to explore the former. The next morning we made our way back to the airport, where we boarded another specially-chartered plane just for Silversea guests, that transported us to King George Island, a scientific research station and the largest of the South Shetland Islands. This is our first chance to step on land in Antarctica.
What makes this an unusual way to experience Antarctica? Silversea’s “Antarctica Bridge” is a fast track to the continent because it cuts out the two days at sea – on each end — via the often-rough Drake Passage. Unbelievably, our “Antarctica Bridge” flight takes a very comfortable two hours each way. This brings Antarctica – previously only accessible on a minimum of nine days (and that’s not even including the flights to Santiago and back) – to just five days.
The Onboard Experience
Every seat onboard our flight is business class – not flat-bed (not necessary on a 2-hour flight) – but with a generous seat pitch, in-flight movies via an app and personalized service.
We’re greeted with smiles from our stewardesses, who seem as excited as we are. And because everyone onboard is a Silversea guest, there’s already a camaraderie, and a feeling of excitement as we get ever closer to our destination. It’s a similar story with our captain, a former Chilean Naval pilot who’s clocked up more than 10,000 hours of flying time and who welcomes us onboard as if we are old friends.
(All the captains are former Chilean naval pilots; they need to be: Although this is a short flight, weather around here turns on a dime and take off and landings are done on sight, not radar, so they need the experience to determine whether it’s safe to land).
Food that’s served onboard the flight features authentic regional dishes using traditional recipes: another Silversea touch. Wanting to include and involve the local community, Silversea hires local chefs to create the meals onboard and take it from me – the food is nothing like you’ve tasted on a plane before. Fresh, tasty and hearty, our menu included a Chilean green salad with warm, home-made bread, a delicious and hearty charquicán (beef and vegetable stew), and a mousse dessert made from local calafate berries.
And yet the most unexpected part of the flight is when you get close to landing and suddenly, you swoop down onto this massive, exotic continent from above.
Conrad Combrink, Silversea’s Senior Vice President of Expeditions, Destination and Itinerary Management, explains the feeling of setting eyes on Antarctica for the first time from the plane: “It’s quite impossible to describe the feeling, the sensation of excitement on the aircraft because everybody’s sharing that.
“Then, all of a sudden, you see Antarctica. We fly into the South Shetlands, the first group of islands that you get when you come down to Antarctica. We had very low-lying clouds and you just break through the clouds and then poof! There it is. It was quite spectacular.”
How Did the Antarctica Bridge Program Come Into Being?
It’s important to note that fly-cruise to Antarctica is not an entirely new concept, but flights were typically on old planes with little or no comfort. What Silversea has done is upended the notion that you have to suffer a little to get to Antarctica and translated the luxury provided on its vessels to the planes, as Combrink says.
“We’re not inventing fly-cruise; it’s been done for a while already, but I realized that there’s not a single luxury operator doing it,” he says. “ I started working with Antarctic Airways (DAP), our local partner, and they are the only company that has aircraft capable of operating this unique experience.”
Antarctica Airways operate BAe 146 aircraft for the journey, which are built for short take offs and landings. Silversea took out 16 seats and increased the seat pitch, as well as offering the delicious Chilean-inspired home cooked meals we enjoyed, and ultra-personalized service.
Who Would the Antarctica Bridge Suit?
Flying to Antarctica cuts out two days either side of the journey, so it would suit anyone short on time and yet who is keen to experience the massive continent in a week. And of course, anyone who is prone to seasickness will welcome the two-hour flight vs. the two-day journey. That’s not to say that the Drake Passage is always rough, but there is a high likelihood it might be.
But there are some who would say that skipping the Drake Passage is somehow “cheating” on the full Antarctica experience; that by experiencing the world’s roughest seas makes landfall even sweeter. And speaking from experience, as someone who has sailed this stretch of sea, there is a feeling of anticipation and excitement when you are sailing past the 71st parallel and all you can see is a low horizon and dark seas.
However, I was quite happy to try the “Antarctica Bridge” version of a cruise around the continent. And you can, occasionally, opt to sail the Drake on one way, while the flight on another (that’s because Silver Endeavour needs to restock periodically from Punta Arenas and will also be there at the start of the Antarctica season). There is always an option to sail one way and fly back.
Getting ready for our landing
One piece of the Santiago experience is that the Antarctica gear, which travelers provide sizes for after they’ve booked the cruise, will be waiting for you to try on. Should the sizes not be right, you can try another. The outwear is then whisked away, and you don’t need to worry about it until it’s handed to you at the plane in Punta Arenas.
Still, on the Antarctica flight, there’s one small difference: Around 15 minutes before arrival the captain will announce it’s time to get your boots on for the transfer to the ship, which is across a beach. You’ll deplane fully prepared for the start of your Antarctica experience.
King George Island is considered the gateway to the continent, and the only way to fly to Antarctica. Housing a cluster of research stations, off a gravel runway, it looks and feels like you’ve stepped into a Scandi Noir show; I can only imagine what day to day life is like here.
Minibuses transport you a short distance to the beach, where you can see Silver Endeavour, your luxury home-from-home, waiting just off the shore. It’s a short walk to the waiting Zodiacs (your luggage will follow behind you). Your Antarctica adventure has already begun.
Antarctica’s weather can be tricky; what if that impacts your flight?
This is an excellent question, and one I asked Combrink, and is in fact what happened to us. Around a night or so out from King George Island the captain came on the PA to tell us that a weather front was on its way and we needed to cut short our cruise by a night in order to find a window to depart.
Of course, on the flip side, the guests on the next journey got to come in a day early.
With military precision, the Silversea team immediately mobilized to reorganize our disembarkation, coming up with a new plan. The chartered flights are brought forward by one day, hotel rooms are booked in Punta Arenas, and we are given a list of shore excursions for the unexpected extra exploring we’ll get in Patagonia.
We opted to visit a working farm at the base of the Patagonia steppes, where the owner takes us on a tour, followed by a delicious barbecue of roast lamb. After lunch we went condor spotting, who nest on a sheer bluff at the edge of the farm.
Though unplanned, this experience felt like a wonderful bonus; although we missed a day in Antarctica, we gained one in Patagonia.
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