Southern Alps Air
4.8 19 reviews
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Flying out of Wanaka rather than Queenstown is the smarter pick for this kind of trip. You're already close to Mt Aspiring, so the mountain scenery starts almost immediately after takeoff. The pilots know this country well and the commentary is genuinely good, not just background noise. Window seats for everyone is a nice touch too, no jostling for a view.
Most people do the flight and Milford Sound cruise combo, and it consistently gets strong marks. A few reviewers noted the cruise itself can feel a bit touristy once you're on the water, which is fair, but the flight portion more than carries its weight. If the Milford combo isn't your thing, the Mt Cook and glaciers route gets just as much love. Use the Rankers code for 10% off whichever flight you go for, helps keep us going too.
Weather is the one variable you can't control, and a few people mention it makes all the difference up there. If conditions are good, just go. The consensus across years of reviews is pretty clear on that front.
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Southern Alps Air
Milford Sound Scenic Flight & Cruise from Wanaka. Best scenic route on offer.
Window seats for all passengers allow for breath taking views and amazing photo opportunities of Mt Aspiring, glaciers, snow capped mountains, rain forests, 2 World Heritage National Parks, braided river systems, native forests and other alpine highlights too numerous to mention. At Milford Sound board a small boat for a scenic cruise of the Sound.
Other flight options available, Mt Cook including Fox, Franz & Tasman Glacier, Mt Aspiring and Siberia Experience.
Details
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Organisation |
Southern Alps AirCommercial organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township |
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Business Times |
Choice of morning or afternoon departures for some flights. Operates year-round. |
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Promo Code Save 10% |
Use discount code RANKERS with Southern Alps Air and save 10%. |
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Scenic Flights
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Reviews
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Beaut day!
Volders -
Beautiful flight to Milford Sound.
Ceri Eaton -
Fantastic service, amazing views.
DPrice -
We did the flight/boat tour.
JohnHaestad -
Flight to Milford Sound.
Ian
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This was the highlight of trip NZ !
Such an amazing day out, we did the flight, cruise, flight out of Wanaka.
We were looked after by friendly, highly professional people who were very knowledgeable about the region and made our day awesome.
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Awesome company to travel to Milford with from Wanaka.
Scenically a much better option than Queenstown due to the close proximity to Mt Aspiring therefore providing stunning mountain views. A well established flight business with friendly highly experienced pilots. Fantastic commentary the entire flight. Very willing and helpful helping my friend who required some physical assistance also. Thank you for such a memorable and scenically stunning experience Southern Alps Air.
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Beautiful flight to Milford Sound.
All seamless (flight/boat transfers etc). Thoroughly enjoyable and recommend.
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If ,like us, it's your first time in NZ, do yourself a favour and fly with Southern Alps Air to Milford Sound.
We had a beautiful experience flying with them. Our pilot was friendly and knowledgeable from the get-go, giving good commentary all the way and even on the way back. Bring a pair a binos to complete the experience. Views are stunning and breathtaking. Everything from lift off to cruise to touch down back at base was perfect. 10/10.
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I was delighted with a recent flight into Siberia Valley in a Cessna aircraft.
Even though the weather was windy, the pilot's commentary was informative and relaxing. The skills of the pilot were highly evident on landing at the Siberia strip and I would recommend this to anyone of medium fitness.
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Today I went on the Mt Cook & Glaciers flight: AWESOME!
Highlight of my time in New Zealand!
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We had done Siberia Experience on 22nd Jan and had an amazing time and customer service was excellent so we decided to do a scenic flight to Milford Sound the next day!
Again great customer service, friendly staff.
Beautiful Scenic flight from Wanaka to Milford, Pilot gave great commentary. Landed at Milford then Boat Cruise. We really enjoyed it and would recommend going with Southern Alps Air.
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If you can afford it and the weather is good, just do it!
Fantastic flight, experienced and interesting pilot, the only way to see Milford Sound. Awesome.
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Trip to Milford sound including boat ride.
Great experience - a must for NZ visitors. Friendly staff, pilot explains every detail, had a great time. Worth the money.
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The flight was worth the price.
It was absolutely beautiful. The cruise was okay, but we could have done without
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We did the flight/boat tour.
Great flight. Pilot was great (he was the owner) - loads of fun and good humour. They have a Cessna 206 & 207. We were in the 206. Total of 5 passengers. Planes were in good shape. Milford Sound boat ride was OK, but really touristy - not our cup of tea. We would have enjoyed a smaller boat with less people but it was still loads of fun. Flight operation was great and intimate and we loved it.
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This was the highlight of trip NZ !
Such an amazing day out, we did the flight, cruise, flight out of Wanaka.
We were looked after by friendly, highly professional people who were very knowledgeable about the region and made our day awesome.
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Awesome company to travel to Milford with from Wanaka.
Scenically a much better option than Queenstown due to the close proximity to Mt Aspiring therefore providing stunning mountain views. A well established flight business with friendly highly experienced pilots. Fantastic commentary the entire flight. Very willing and helpful helping my friend who required some physical assistance also. Thank you for such a memorable and scenically stunning experience Southern Alps Air.
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Beautiful flight to Milford Sound.
All seamless (flight/boat transfers etc). Thoroughly enjoyable and recommend.
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If ,like us, it's your first time in NZ, do yourself a favour and fly with Southern Alps Air to Milford Sound.
We had a beautiful experience flying with them. Our pilot was friendly and knowledgeable from the get-go, giving good commentary all the way and even on the way back. Bring a pair a binos to complete the experience. Views are stunning and breathtaking. Everything from lift off to cruise to touch down back at base was perfect. 10/10.
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Trip to Milford sound including boat ride.
Great experience - a must for NZ visitors. Friendly staff, pilot explains every detail, had a great time. Worth the money.
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If you can afford it and the weather is good, just do it!
Fantastic flight, experienced and interesting pilot, the only way to see Milford Sound. Awesome.
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We had done Siberia Experience on 22nd Jan and had an amazing time and customer service was excellent so we decided to do a scenic flight to Milford Sound the next day!
Again great customer service, friendly staff.
Beautiful Scenic flight from Wanaka to Milford, Pilot gave great commentary. Landed at Milford then Boat Cruise. We really enjoyed it and would recommend going with Southern Alps Air.
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We did the flight/boat tour.
Great flight. Pilot was great (he was the owner) - loads of fun and good humour. They have a Cessna 206 & 207. We were in the 206. Total of 5 passengers. Planes were in good shape. Milford Sound boat ride was OK, but really touristy - not our cup of tea. We would have enjoyed a smaller boat with less people but it was still loads of fun. Flight operation was great and intimate and we loved it.
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The flight was worth the price.
It was absolutely beautiful. The cruise was okay, but we could have done without
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Today I went on the Mt Cook & Glaciers flight: AWESOME!
Highlight of my time in New Zealand!
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I was delighted with a recent flight into Siberia Valley in a Cessna aircraft.
Even though the weather was windy, the pilot's commentary was informative and relaxing. The skills of the pilot were highly evident on landing at the Siberia strip and I would recommend this to anyone of medium fitness.
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I did the Milford Sound scenic flight and it was absolutely amazing!!!
The best thing i've experienced in New Zealand by far. I highly recommend it...worth every penny.
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Worth every cent.
Fantastic views of the Southern Alps and areas you would never lay an eye on if you drive.
Pilot (cute) has great knowledge of area. Cruise is amazing.
Great value for your money. Can highly recommend it.
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Myself and 5 friends took this Milford Sound scenic flight and cruise from Wanaka.
We all agreed it was fantastic. The scenery was awe inspiring. The full trip took 4 hours which saved us a lot of travelling time and allowed us to do other activities instead of travelling for the 10 or so hours it would have taken by road from Wanaka and return. The scenery from the aircraft was much better than we had anticipated, there is so much to see, some of the many highlights were Mt Aspiring, and the many glaciers and waterfalls. We took a circular flight path so the return flight was completely different views, we flew the full length of the sound before we landed there and got on the boat which took us right out to the mouth of the sound and back. We were lucky to see dolphins and seals during the cruise. The service provided by this company was exceptional, they were professional, very friendly and helpful and we enjoyed their NZ light hearted humour. We found the commentary very informative and the window seats allowed us all to see everything that was out there. We enjoyed this so much that we decided to try another activity this company offers called Siberia Experience. We weren't disappointed!! I would recommend anyone who is in the area to take this Milford Sound Flight with Southern Alps Air . We all agreed that it was a highlight of our stay in NZ so far.
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Fantastic service, amazing views.
The Milford Sound and Cruise Flight is worth every cent. The pilots were so knowledgeable it was great.
Hi D, I am glad that you thought that our pilots were knowledgeable, our pilots are passionate about the areas they fly in so the commentary they give is un-scripted and "straight from heart"