What Happens on a Franz Josef Helicopter Flight, Step by Step
Step by step: check-in 30 minutes early, the weigh-in and briefing, the van to the hangar, seats by weight, headsets, the route, the landing and total time.
You check in at the operator’s office on the main road 30 minutes before departure, are weighed, sit through a safety briefing, and go to the helicopter by van or on foot. Seats are allocated by weight. You put on a headset, fly up the glacier, step out on the snow for roughly 6 to 15 minutes depending on the operator, and fly back. For a 25 to 35 minute flight, allow about an hour or a little more from check-in to the end.
The listed flight time includes the landing, and the pilot decides on the day whether the route and the landing go ahead. The walk-through below follows the Franz Josef Glacier: Helicopter Flight & Alpine Landing (Glacier Country Helicopters, 25 minutes, from $223 per person, 4.8 from 696 GetYourGuide reviews, the most-reviewed helicopter flight with a page on this site; our breakdown), with notes where other operators do things differently.
Check Availability
Before the day: confirmation and the call ahead
Your booking confirmation gives a departure time, but treat it as provisional for a day or two. INFLITE’s listings say the operator emails you after booking to confirm the exact flight date and time, and that time may differ from the one you requested. Glacier Country Helicopters suggests you call the day before, and The Helicopter Line asks you to reconfirm at least 24 hours ahead on 0800 807 767.
Flights are shared unless you book a private one. Glacier Country Helicopters needs four passengers for a flight to depart and pairs solo bookings with others; Glacier Helicopters needs at least three paying customers. If a departure does not fill, the GetYourGuide listings offer a move to another departure or a full refund.
Have everyone’s weight ready. The Helicopter Line asks for each passenger’s weight at booking, and Glacier Helicopters may reschedule anyone who turns out to be 15 kg or more above the weight they declared. Glacier Country Helicopters weighs everyone at check-in and asks passengers of 120 kg or more, including gear, to buy a Comfort Seat at half the flight price.
Nobody collects you. No operator offers hotel pickup, and the Franz Josef offices sit on the main road a short walk from most accommodation; Glacier Country Helicopters is at 10 Main Road. Some flights filed under Fox Glacier on GetYourGuide check in at Franz Josef, while others leave from Fox Glacier village, 24 km south. Read the departure point on your booking. The Franz Josef vs Fox guide lists which is which. Dress for the snow before you leave your room, since nothing is lent; the what to wear guide covers it.
Check-in, the weigh-in and the briefing
Arrive 30 minutes before departure. That is the check-in time at Glacier Country Helicopters (45 minutes for groups over ten), Glacier Helicopters, HeliServices and The Helicopter Line. Franz Josef Glacier Guides asks for 15 minutes on its heli-hikes. Glacier Country Helicopters says a missed check-in forfeits the full fare, so build in a margin if you are driving in from Fox or further.
At the counter staff check your booking and weigh you. Seats are worked out from those weights: the pilot needs the helicopter’s load balanced, and the front seats have the tightest limits (at Glacier Country Helicopters, 154 kg for two front passengers or 120 kg for one). Weighing every passenger was among the coroner’s recommendations after the 2015 Fox Glacier crash, covered in the safety section below.
This is also when the weather call is made. Glacier Helicopters and HeliServices make the final decision at check-in, and The Helicopter Line runs its weather check as check-in closes. If the flight cannot go, you will usually hear it here, before anyone boards. On GetYourGuide that means a reschedule or a full refund through GetYourGuide.
Then comes the safety briefing, a fixed step on every listing before anyone boards. You also put away anything that is not allowed in the cabin: bags, selfie sticks, tablets and loose scarves feature on the operators’ lists.
If you need help with steps, say so here or, better, when you book. Glacier Country Helicopters says there are two high ladder-style steps into its helicopters and that limited mobility can change which helicopter you fly in.
From the office to the landing site, step by step
How you reach the helicopter depends on the operator. At Glacier Country Helicopters a van takes you from the office to the hangar, where you meet your pilot. HeliServices boards you at its base in Franz Josef. For heli-hikes, FJGG walks you a short distance to the helipad.
| Step | What happens | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Check-in | Booking checked, every passenger weighed, weather call | 30 min before departure |
| 2. Safety briefing | Given before boarding, on every listing | Part of check-in |
| 3. To the helicopter | Van to the hangar (Glacier Country Helicopters) or a short walk | A few minutes |
| 4. Boarding | Seats allocated by weight and balance; headset on | A few minutes |
| 5. Flight up | Over the terminal moraine and up the glacier valley, ice pinnacles and crevasses | About 10 min on the 25-minute Fox Glacier flight below |
| 6. Landing | Step out on the snow for photos | About 6-8 min (Glacier Helicopters) to 10-15 min incl. loading (Glacier Country Helicopters) |
| 7. Flight back | Down the valley to base | About 7 min on the same flight |
| 8. Return | Van or walk back to the office | A few minutes |
Two listings break their flights into minutes. Glacier Helicopters’ Fox Glacier: Scenic Helicopter Flight with Snow Landing shows about 10 minutes flying out, an 8-minute stop and 7 minutes back, 25 minutes in all. The Helicopter Line’s Franz Josef: Twin Glacier Helicopter Flight and Snow Landing shows 10 minutes over Franz Josef Glacier, 10 over Fox Glacier and a 10-minute stop.
Total time is longer than the flight. The Helicopter Line says to allow about one hour in all for its 35-minute flight, including check-in and the briefing. Glacier Country Helicopters asks you to allow an extra 45 minutes on top of the flight time for check-in, transport, loading and unloading, so its 25-minute flight takes about 70 minutes from the counter and back (our arithmetic). How listed minutes split between air and snow is in the flight times guide.
In the air: seats, headsets and the route
You cannot choose your seat. In a six-seat helicopter some passengers sit in the middle of the back row, and a few reviewers on the longer flights say that seat limited their view. Glacier Country Helicopters takes front-seat requests at least 24 hours ahead and confirms them only at check-in, for a fee.
Once you are strapped in, you put on a headset and the pilot talks you through the flight. On the 25-minute Glacier Country Helicopters flight, the listing describes the route: over the terminal moraine, up the valley over Franz Josef Glacier with its ice pinnacles and crevasses, then on into the Southern Alps. Longer flights add Fox Glacier, the Tasman Glacier or views toward Aoraki/Mt Cook, and every operator says routes vary with weather and the pilot’s judgment. One reviewer found the commentary thin; the listings include commentary but do not say how much.
The landing and your minutes outside
The pilot chooses the landing spot. The Helicopter Line says the exact site is picked on the day “based on weather and glacier movement”, and DOC limits aircraft landings in the national park to 18 approved sites. On the 25-minute Glacier Country Helicopters flight you land on an elevated site and have about 10 minutes for photos; its listing says that in summer the snow landing may become an alpine landing if no snow is available. The snow vs alpine landing guide explains the difference.
You step out onto the snow and take photos, with the helicopter and the peaks around you. It is colder than town: anywhere from a couple of degrees (Glacier Country Helicopters) to 5 to 10 degrees (HeliServices). On INFLITE’s Franz Josef: Grand Circle 60 Minute Scenic Flight, the helicopter shuts down completely on the Tasman Glacier so you can take in the silence.
A landing is never guaranteed. A few reviewers found cloud closed in and they flew over the glacier without landing, or were taken to a different landing site. Glacier Country Helicopters adjusts the price when a flight ends up as an overflight. The weather and refunds guide covers partial flights.
Safety, in plain terms
Pilots make the weather calls, at check-in and in the air, and they choose routes and landing sites on the day. Passengers are weighed so the load stays within each helicopter’s weight and balance limits, and operators fly under New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority rules.
On 21 November 2015 an AS350BA helicopter crashed on Fox Glacier, killing all seven people on board. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s final report (May 2019) found that the operator’s pilot training did not fully comply with Civil Aviation rules and that the CAA had not intervened on significant non-compliances; it recommended the CAA independently review its past surveillance. The coroner’s 2022 recommendations included weighing passengers, tighter weather restrictions and better pilot training. Today you will see the weigh-in and the weather call at every check-in.
Questions about the flight
How long does a Franz Josef helicopter flight take from check-in to finish?
Allow about an hour for a 35-minute flight (The Helicopter Line) and about 70 minutes for a 25-minute Glacier Country Helicopters flight, including check-in.
Do you get out of the helicopter?
Yes, on every flight with a landing, for about 6 to 15 minutes depending on the operator, weather permitting.
How many people share the helicopter?
Up to six passengers plus the pilot in the six-seat helicopters most operators fly, depending on weight.
Can I choose where I sit?
No. Seats are allocated at check-in by weight and balance. Glacier Country Helicopters takes front-seat requests 24 hours ahead, confirmed at check-in.
Related:
Pick a Morning Above the Glacier
Flights run on the weather. Book early in your stay so a cancelled slot can move to the next day.
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