Franz Josef Snow Landing Flights

For a short helicopter flight with a snow landing at Franz Josef, book HeliServices’ Glacier Helicopter Ride with Snow Landing: 20 minutes from Franz Josef township, from $204 per person, rated 4.9 from 195 GetYourGuide reviews. It has the lowest price of the 20 flights on this site. The most-reviewed flight here is Glacier Country Helicopters’ Helicopter Flight & Alpine Landing, 25 minutes from $223, rated 4.8 from 696 reviews. No landing is certain on any of them. The pilot decides on the day, so book the morning of your first full day in town and keep a second day free.

Quick picks

• Lowest price: the HeliServices 20-minute flight, from $204. See our breakdown.
• Most reviews: the Glacier Country Helicopters 25-minute flight, from $223. Its listing allows about 10 minutes at the landing site. See our breakdown.
• A second 20-minute option: Glacier Helicopters’ Franz Josef Glacier Helicopter Flight with Snow Landing, from $223, rated 4.9 from 57 reviews.
• Standing on the glacier itself: Franz Josef Glacier Guides’ Scenic Helicopter Flight & Glacier Landing, from $395, with up to 15 minutes on the ice. It has only 3 reviews so far (4.2).
• Staying in Fox Glacier village: Glacier Helicopters’ Fox Glacier Scenic Helicopter Flight with Snow Landing, 25 minutes from $223, rated 4.6 from 127 reviews.

How long you get on the snow

The time on a listing is the whole flight, and it includes the landing. Time outside the helicopter differs by operator:

Glacier Country Helicopters’ own FAQ puts its landings at around 10 to 15 minutes, loading included. So on a 25-minute flight with a 10-minute stop, you spend about 15 minutes in the air. Glacier Helicopters’ Fox itinerary is the clearest example of the split: about 10 minutes up, 8 on the snow and 7 back.

The Franz Josef Glacier Guides option works differently. It includes a guide, the helicopter climbs for about 7 minutes and lands on the icefall at around 1,300 meters, and you get up to 15 minutes on the ice. Allow about an hour from check-in to return. It needs a minimum of four guests to run and does not take children under 4. For two hours or more on the ice, see the Franz Josef heli-hike.

Snow landing or alpine landing in summer

Read the landing wording before you book. Glacier Country Helicopters’ 25-minute listing says that in summer its snow landing may become an alpine landing if no snow is available. INFLITE, another operator here, explains the difference: an alpine landing is on a mountain site that may have no snow in the warmer months, while a glacier landing sets down on the glacier, where snow is more reliable all year.

The Helicopter Line’s Scenic Glacier Flight with Snow Landing calls its landing guaranteed, yet the same listing’s notes describe it as an alpine landing and offer a reschedule or refund when weather stops the flight. Treat no landing as certain. With only 7 reviews (4.9), it also has the thinnest record of the short flights.

Landing sites are regulated. The Department of Conservation (DOC) limits aircraft landings in Westland Tai Poutini National Park to 18 approved sites, and says climate change is reducing snow cover at some of them. HeliServices says its flight climbs as high as 6,000 ft, and that it can be 5 to 10 degrees cooler on the snow than in the village. If snow underfoot is the point of your trip, ask at check-in which landing site is in use that day.

When cloud stops the landing

Franz Josef sits in the path of westerly weather, and flights change or cancel at short notice. Glacier Helicopters and HeliServices make the final weather call at check-in, 30 minutes before departure. Three things can happen:

• The flight is cancelled. On a GetYourGuide booking you are offered a reschedule or a full refund.
• The flight goes but cannot land. Glacier Country Helicopters says it can never fully guarantee a landing and adjusts the price for an overflight. It also sells an 18-minute twin glacier overflight for days when cloud keeps it off the snow sites, at $223, the same as its 25-minute landing flight. Ask at check-in what you will pay if your flight runs without a landing.
• The route changes. Pilots may move you to another landing site or another route.

The reviews show all three. A few reviewers flew without the landing after hearing about the weather at check-in, and one paid more to switch to a different flight and site. A few watched other companies’ helicopters land while theirs could not, because each pilot lands only where the site is safe that day. Glacier Country Helicopters’ 25-minute listing adds that this flight has the highest cancellation rate of its range, because it has one route and one landing site with no backup. The longer flights have more options, which is one reason to look at a twin glacier flight if your days are tight. Our weather guide covers the seasons and refunds.

Choosing between the short flights

Pick HeliServices if price decides it, and Glacier Country Helicopters if you want the biggest review record. The two Glacier Helicopters flights suit you if you want to fly from whichever village you are staying in, Franz Josef or Fox, about 24 km apart. Our Fox Glacier page covers the flights from the southern village.

A few details differ by operator:

• Seats. Crews allocate seats at check-in by weight and balance, so you cannot choose a window. Glacier Country Helicopters takes front-seat requests 24 hours ahead, confirmed at check-in for a fee. A few reviewers ended up in middle seats with a restricted view.
• Weight. Glacier Country Helicopters asks passengers of 120 kg or more, weighed at check-in, to buy a Comfort Seat at half the flight price.
• Children. On Glacier Helicopters and The Helicopter Line flights, children over 15 kg need their own seat and infants under 4 and under 15 kg sit on an adult’s knee. HeliServices seats infants of 3 and under below 15 kg on a lap, but you must declare them when you book.
• What to bring. The listings ask for sunglasses, a warm jacket and closed-toe shoes. Selfie sticks, drones and tablets are not allowed.

For the price of each flight per minute, see our price guide. For a flight past Aoraki/Mt Cook, see the Mount Cook flights.

Booking the flight

Every flight on this page has free cancellation up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide, and you can reserve now and pay later. Most need a minimum number of passengers to depart, so you may share the helicopter with other travelers. Glacier Helicopters calls November to March its busiest time and suggests booking about a month ahead then. When you have a date, check availability for the 20-minute HeliServices flight, or compare the three short flights in the table below.