Franz Josef Heli Hike or a Scenic Helicopter Flight?

Take the heli hike if you want to walk on the glacier: Franz Josef Glacier Guides’ 2.5 Hour Glacier Hike with Helicopter Transfer gives you up to 2.5 hours on the ice for US$499 a person (checked November 2026). Take a scenic flight if you want to see the glaciers and the Southern Alps from the air and step out on the snow for a few minutes: the flights from Franz Josef run from 20 minutes to an hour, from US$200 to US$497 (checked November 2026). For Aoraki/Mount Cook, pick a flight of 40 minutes or more.

The calendar above is the heli hike’s. Each flight below links to its own calendar.

Every option from Franz Josef, by time in the air

GetYourGuide from-prices a person, checked November 2026; Viator from-prices checked November 2026. A from-price is the lowest the calendar can show; the date you pick decides the rest.

A snow landing is not a glacier hike

Every flight in the table lands, but where and for how long differs. Glacier Country Helicopters’ flights stop at “an elevated snow landing site” for 10 or 15 minutes; on its 25-minute flight, in summer, the snow landing may become an alpine landing if there is no snow. The Helicopter Line’s Franz Josef flights land on the névé, the snowfield at the head of the glacier, for 5 to 10 minutes. To see those upper snowfields at all, the Department of Conservation says you need a flight in a helicopter or a ski plane (checked November 2026).

A landing gives you a few minutes standing on snow, a photograph and a view. The heli hike lands high on the main icefall of the glacier and keeps you on its ice, in crampons, for up to 2.5 hours. Franz Josef Glacier Guides claims “exclusive access to land visitors directly on Franz Josef Glacier”.

Which flight for which traveller

The lowest price. HeliServices.NZ Fox Franz Haast's 20-minute flight flies from its base in Franz Josef over the ice pinnacles and crevasses to a snow landing, from US$200 (checked November 2026).

A landing on a tight schedule. Glacier Country Helicopters' 25-minute flight has 700 reviews and a 10-minute landing. It has one route and one landing site, and Glacier Country Helicopters gives it the highest cancellation rate of its flights for that reason; the longer flights have other routes to fall back on.

Two glaciers. The 35-minute flight over two glaciers adds the Fox or the Tasman Glacier, and Glacier Helicopters' flight the Fox, both with a snow landing. Deciding between Franz Josef and its neighbour to the south as a base? foxglaciertour.com sets the two glaciers side by side.

Aoraki/Mount Cook. The 45-minute flight over three glaciers brings Aoraki/Mount Cook into view, Glacier Helicopters' Mount Cook Spectacular crosses the Main Divide to circle it, and INFLITE's 30-minute flight lands on the Tasman Glacier on the far side of the divide.

The longest look. The hour over four glaciers adds the Shackleton Glacier and makes two snow landings, from US$497.

Weight, seats and children on the flights

Each operator sets its own rules, so there is no single weight limit for “the helicopter”:

• Glacier Country Helicopters: passengers who weigh 120 kg or more at check-in must buy a Comfort Seat at half the flight price. Its flights are not for wheelchair users, and all but the hour-long one exclude people with mobility impairments.
• INFLITE Mt Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters: a passenger weight limit of 116 kg, and the flight may be moved if a group’s combined weight reaches the aircraft’s limit.
• Glacier Helicopters: children aged 4 to 14 who weigh over 15 kg need their own seat; younger, lighter children sit on an adult’s knee.
• The heli hike: 35 to 115 kg, age 10 and up, at least 137 cm. See who can do the heli hike.

Which to book

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.