Antarctica is a treacherous place for pilots, and the icy continent is home to only 50 landing strips, and no airports
For the first time in history, a commercial Airbus plane successfully landed on Antarctica's white continent.
According to news reports, one of the company's A340 airbus planes touched down on an ice runway of Antarctica earlier this month.
This historical plane landing on Antarctica will pave the way for more tourism on the frozen landmass.
It may be mentioned here that the commercial airbus plane took off from South Africa's Cape Town on November 2 morning, before flying 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km) to Antarctica, and then back again.
It is worth mentioning here that each of these flights took just over five hours, and the crew spent less than three hours on the southernmost continent itself.
In short, the crew made it back home in time for a late dinner.
Aircraft's pilot Captain Carlos Mirpuri, while speaking about this historic flight informed that it achieved aviation first by successfully landing on a runway made of "blue glacial ice".
News agency CNN reported that the historic flight was operated by Hi Fly, a boutique aviation company chartered by Wolf's Gang luxury adventure camp.
The aircraft will be used this season to fly a small number of tourists, alongside scientists and cargo to the icy continent.
Antarctica is a treacherous place for pilots, and the icy continent is home to only 50 landing strips, and no airports. Thus, pilots have to account for slippery conditions and the weight of their aircraft as it lands on ice.
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