ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST MAGICAL PHENOMENA
“I’m really excited about this charter flight. Flying into the southern auroral zone is a wonderful experience, and you never know quite what you are going to see. As I said on my return from the first flight; we’ve travelled two thirds of the way to the south pole, seen an incredible display of the Southern Lights, got lovely pictures, and we are home in time for breakfast”
ABOUT IAN
ASTRONOMERS
VIVA EXPEDITIONS
Dr Ian Griffin is an astronomer who has been Director of the Otago Museum since 2013. Originally from the UK, after falling in love with the clear dark skies of the Otago Peninsula he became a NZ citizen in 2018. A self-described aurora fanatic, Ian has led four successful Air NZ charter flights into the southern auroral zone. On the two most recent Southern Lights by Flight in March 2021 passengers enjoyed more than four hours of Auroral displays as the aircraft flew thousands of kilometres south of New Zealand. Ian has also photographed the southern lights during five flights on NASA’s SOFIA Observatory.
Along with Dr Ian Griffin we have teamed up with some of New Zealand’s most experienced and knowledgeable astronomers and educators who are experts in their field and they love chasing Auroras. Working alongside Dr Ian Griffin, the planes pilots and navigators our astronomers will help plan our flight path and assist the pilots to navigate the flight to the most active areas of the Southern Lights.
Our story begins in South America, where we spent many years sending clients on organised group tours and tailor made adventures. We then started taking clients to Antarctica on expedition cruises to discover the frozen continent. We are team of destination specialists who have lived and breathed Latin America and Antarctica. We take pride in creating personalised travel itineraries, that we know will make the ultimate trip and experience. Our New Zealand story is somewhat different. At the end of 2019 our spirits were soaring, 2020 was set to be a record year! Then along came COVID and everything changed! Never ones to be idle we set to work on a project we have been planning for some time, Unique Luxury Experience in New Zealand. As we expanded our New Zealand product we saw an amazing opportunity to organise one of the more unique travel opportunities, which are to view the Aurora Australis by flight. With hard work and a lot of planning, we are proud to bring you Southern Lights by Flight!
ASTRO-PHOTOGRAPHERS
Along with our astronomers we will have a team of astro pho- tographers onboard, who will take photos of the Aurora so we can share these images with you at no additional cost. The astro photographers will also be there to assist you with any photog- raphy questions you may though please be sure to familiarise yourself with camera settings before coming onboard.
DR. IAN GRIFFIN
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