25 vs 40 vs 55 Minutes

Book the 55 minutes if you want one flight that shows you all of it. The Helicopter Line’s Aoraki & The Glaciers 55-minute flight, from $500 per person, runs the full length of the Tasman Glacier, lands in the snow facing Aoraki/Mount Cook, then crosses the Main Divide to the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. Choose 40 minutes if the Tasman Glacier and the Hochstetter Icefall are enough, and 25 minutes if you want a landing in the mountains for the least money.

The Helicopter Line’s ladder, step by step

The Helicopter Line sells four lengths from its base at Glentanner Park, and every one includes a landing. That makes it the clearest way to see what extra minutes buy, because the operator and base stay the same.

Per-minute figures are the listed price divided by the advertised minutes.

What each extra 15 minutes adds

From 25 to 40 minutes, you move from the ranges beside Lake Pukaki into the glaciers. The Alpine Vista rises over Lake Pukaki and sweeps through the Ben Ohau Range to a landing site in the mountains. The Mountains High flies into the national park itself, past the Hochstetter Icefall on Aoraki and over the upper Tasman Glacier, before a landing in the snow and a return over the Burnett Mountains with the Mackenzie Basin below. The 35-minute Alpine Explorer sits between the two: more of the Southern Alps and a clear view of Aoraki, without the glacier route of the 40.

From 40 to 55 minutes, you add the other side of the Alps. The Aoraki & The Glaciers flight starts over Tasman Glacier Lake, follows the glacier along its full 23 km, lands in the snow with Aoraki in front of you, then crosses the Main Divide to the West Coast for the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers before coming back past the summit ridge. If you are not driving to the West Coast on this trip, this flight lets you see those glaciers as well. Our Tasman Glacier guide covers the flights and heli hikes that spend longer on that glacier.

Landing time is inside the advertised minutes

Every duration here is the total trip with the landing included. The Helicopter Line tells Alpine Vista passengers to allow a 25-minute total trip including the landing, with about 6 to 8 minutes on the ground. Its Mountains High listing on Viator gives the snow landing as 5 to 10 minutes. INFLITE’s longer flights include a landing of 10 to 15 minutes on the Tasman Glacier, so a 55-minute INFLITE flight is closer to 40 to 45 minutes of flying. Allow extra time around the flight too: check-in closes 30 minutes before a Helicopter Line departure, and it suggests allowing about an hour in total for the 25-minute flight.

INFLITE’s ladder from Mount Cook Airport

INFLITE (Mount Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters) flies from Mount Cook Airport, a few minutes from the village, and prices the same lengths differently.

The 25-minute flight goes up the Tasman Valley and over a glacier lake to an alpine landing. INFLITE warns that its alpine landing sites may have little or no snow in the heat of summer, roughly December to March. The 45-minute combo flies past the Hochstetter Icefall to the upper snowfields of the Tasman Glacier, where you swap aircraft for the flight home; at $6.98 a minute it is the cheapest per minute of the flights on this page, and our combo guide explains how it works. The 55-minute flight follows the same West Coast loop as The Helicopter Line’s, and INFLITE’s own page for this route includes a 10 to 15 minute landing on the Tasman Glacier. You choose helicopter or ski plane; our ski plane vs helicopter guide helps with that choice.

The 40 and 55 minute flights on Viator

The same two Helicopter Line flights are also sold on Viator, where they have built up far more reviews. The Mountains High 40-minute flight has 61 reviews there (4.8, from $393), against 7 on GetYourGuide, and the 55-minute flight has 141:

The GetYourGuide prices are a little lower for both, and GetYourGuide is where the date picker on this page books.

Which length to book

Book 25 minutes for a first helicopter flight, for children, or if the budget is tight. The THL and INFLITE versions cost almost the same; INFLITE’s has 517 reviews. If you want snow underfoot between December and March, a glacier landing is the safer choice, and our snow landing guide explains the difference.

Book 40 minutes if you want to fly among the glaciers and land in the snow without paying for the West Coast crossing. Book 55 minutes if you want both sides of the Southern Alps in one flight, or if this is your only flight in New Zealand. For families, our families guide matches each length to children’s ages, and our prices guide lists every flight by cost. Read our breakdown of the 55-minute flight or the 40-minute Mountains High for the full details.

Before you fly

The Helicopter Line’s base is at Glentanner Park on State Highway 80, about 20 km south of the village, and its 35, 40 and 55 minute listings say transport to and from Aoraki/Mount Cook Village can be provided free. All flights are weather-dependent: if the operator cancels, you can rebook or take a full refund, and every GetYourGuide listing here has free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Operators suggest booking early in your stay so there is time to rebook. To see every flight together, use the full comparison on the homepage.

When you have picked a length, check availability for the 55-minute flight.