Six flights, one ski plane
Six flights leave Aoraki / Mount Cook Village and they all go to the same place — up the Tasman valley past the east face of the highest mountain in New Zealand, over 23.5 kilometres of glacier, and down on the snow somewhere above the terminal lake. They run from $210 for twenty-five minutes to $362 for forty, and one of them lands a ski plane rather than a helicopter.
Quick answer
The short answer. Take the twenty-five minute flight with an alpine landing at $210. It has 514 reviews at 4.7, it lands on the snow, and it is the cheapest way to be above this park at all. Pay more only for the ski-plane combo, which is the only landing of its kind in the country.
Every trip, current fare
All twelve bookable trips in price order, with cost per hour. The flights sit in the middle of the range; the day tours are longer and cheaper per hour, and the heli hikes cost more because a guide comes with them.
| Trip | Duration | Price | On the ice | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Cook & Lake Tekapo Day TourThe cheapest day out from Christchurch | 13 h | $130 | No — from the road | $10.00 | 4.8 · 632 |
| Mt Cook & Hooker Valley Day TourThe Hooker Valley, with transport and a guide | 12 h | $152 | No — the valley track | $12.67 | 4.8 · 566 |
| Mt Cook, Tekapo & Tasman GlacierAoraki, Tekapo and the Tasman viewpoint | 13 h | $193 | No — viewpoints | $14.85 | 5.0 · 3 |
| 25-Minute Alpine LandingThe cheapest way onto the snow | 25 min | $210 | Yes, on snow | $504.00 | 4.7 · 514 |
| 30-Minute Alpine LandingHalf an hour, with a landing | 30 min | $268 | Yes, on snow | $536.00 | 4.8 · 46 |
| Ski Plane & Helicopter ComboThe only ski-plane landing in the country | 45 min | $304 | Yes, ski plane on snow | $405.33 | 4.7 · 356 |
| Tekapo Stargazing & Mount CookAoraki by day, the darkest sky by night | 2 days | $320 | No | $6.67 | 5.0 · 9 |
| 40-Minute National Park FlightForty minutes over the national park | 40 min | $351 | Yes, on snow | $526.50 | 4.7 · 22 |
| 40-Minute Tasman Glacier FlightThe whole length of the Tasman from above | 40 min | $362 | Yes, on the névé | $543.00 | 4.7 · 11 |
| 3-Hour Tasman Glacier Heli HikeThe only way to walk on the Tasman | 3 h | $497 | ~90 min walking | $165.67 | 4.9 · 322 |
| 3-Hour Heli Hike to the TasmanThe second heli hike on the same ice | 3 h | $523 | ~90 min walking | $174.33 | 4.8 · 259 |
| Tasman Heli Hike from QueenstownAoraki in a day, from Queenstown | 6 h | $995 | ~90 min walking | $165.83 | 4.3 · 10 |
What the flights actually show you
The road shows you Aoraki from one side. The flights show you the system it sits in.
The east face of Aoraki. Every road view of this mountain is from the south, up the Hooker Valley. The flights go up the Tasman valley instead, which puts you alongside a face most visitors never see.
The length of the Tasman. From the viewpoint at the end of Tasman Valley Road you see the grey, debris-covered terminus and a lake. From the air you see 23.5 kilometres of ice running back to a névé at three thousand metres, and the thing finally makes sense as a single object.
The Main Divide. On the longer flights the machine crosses the ridge line that splits the island, and the weather on the other side is frequently doing something completely different. It is the clearest lesson in New Zealand geography anyone will give you in forty minutes.
Choosing a flight
They fly the same country. These are the differences that actually matter.
514 reviews at 4.7, a landing on the snow, and the lowest price on the board. If you are flying once and not agonising over it, this is the one.
A slightly wider circuit and the same alpine landing. Worth it if the twenty-five is sold out for your morning, not worth agonising over otherwise.
A ski-equipped fixed-wing aircraft lands on the snow and a helicopter does another leg. It is the only ski-plane glacier landing in New Zealand, it runs forty-five minutes, and it has 356 reviews at 4.7.
More of the park, a landing, and a smaller review count. A good flight for photographers who want the range rather than the mountain.
The one that follows the glacier itself for its length. If the Tasman is what you came for and you do not want to walk on it, this is the flight.
Ten minutes on the snow, or ninety minutes walking? The prices are not the whole story.
The Tasman Glacier heli hike→Book direct
All four land on the snow with the rotors stopped.
★ 4.7 · 514 reviews
★ 4.8 · 46 reviews
★ 4.7 · 356 reviews
★ 4.7 · 11 reviews
Common questions
From $210 for twenty-five minutes with an alpine landing. Thirty minutes is $268, the ski-plane and helicopter combo is $304, and forty minutes along the Tasman is $362.
The twenty-five minute flight with an alpine landing for most people — 514 reviews at 4.7 and the lowest price with a landing. The ski-plane combo is the one worth paying more for, because no other operator in the country lands a ski plane on a glacier.
All six compared here include a landing, generally on snow above the terminal lake, with about ten minutes out of the machine and the rotors shut down.
A scenic flight that follows the length of the Tasman — 23.5 kilometres of ice — usually with a landing on the névé. The forty-minute version at $362 is the one that spends most of its time over the glacier itself.
Yes, and that combination is exactly what a heli hike is: the flight is the transfer and the walk is the product. It runs three hours from $497, with about ninety minutes on the ice.
They need a clear enough window to climb, land and return, and this is high alpine country. Flights are stood down less often than heli hikes, because the machine does not have to come back for you, but book early in your stay all the same.
Go deeper
Six marked tracks from the village, with real DOC times and distances.
On the iceThe only walk on the longest glacier in New Zealand, and what the three hours contain.
The famous oneTen kilometres return, three swing bridges, a lake full of icebergs, and it is free.
The hard one2,200 steps and 600 metres of climb, and where the walking stops and mountaineering starts.
The free view300 steps to a viewpoint over a lake that did not exist in 1970.
PricesThree heli hikes priced against the flights and against the walks that cost nothing.
3-Hour Tasman Glacier Heli Hike
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h