Polar Express 2018 over both poles : canceled ?
Oct 28, 2018, 7:30 am
#1
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 552
Polar Express 2018 over both poles : canceled ?
Two months ago CNN mentioned this upcoming event:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...-50/index.html
The website https://www.overthepoles2018.com redrects to a nonexistent WIX.com page, presumably it is removed.
Is this event canceled ? Lack of interest for the $11900 tickets ?
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...-50/index.html
Upcoming flight
Now, 41 years after the last such flight, a sub-50-hour aviation adventure is being planned to take air travelers over both poles. The Polar Express is scheduled to take off this coming October 26 from New York's JFK International Airport with about 150 passengers.
The route will take them from JFK to Río Gallegos airport in southern Argentina. Taking off from there, the Polar Express will fly over the South Pole and continue all the way to Perth, Australia. Next, it's on to Beijing. And the final leg of the trip takes the plane over the North Pole and back to JFK.
The jet for this upcoming trip will be an Airbus A340-300 -- a large, wide-body, long-range airliner with four trusty engines. Coach tickets start at $11,900. Amenities include specially created cocktails, informative lectures, inflight yoga classes, and an Antarctica expert who will explain what passengers see out the windows.
Baum will join this polar party as its historian, documenting it to create the final chapter of his book "Over Both Poles: Epic Flights Around the World," which is due early next year.
Clearly, the glory days of record-setting global air travel have not completely passed. For those who can muster the time and money, there are still rare experiences to be found out there.
Now, 41 years after the last such flight, a sub-50-hour aviation adventure is being planned to take air travelers over both poles. The Polar Express is scheduled to take off this coming October 26 from New York's JFK International Airport with about 150 passengers.
The route will take them from JFK to Río Gallegos airport in southern Argentina. Taking off from there, the Polar Express will fly over the South Pole and continue all the way to Perth, Australia. Next, it's on to Beijing. And the final leg of the trip takes the plane over the North Pole and back to JFK.
The jet for this upcoming trip will be an Airbus A340-300 -- a large, wide-body, long-range airliner with four trusty engines. Coach tickets start at $11,900. Amenities include specially created cocktails, informative lectures, inflight yoga classes, and an Antarctica expert who will explain what passengers see out the windows.
Baum will join this polar party as its historian, documenting it to create the final chapter of his book "Over Both Poles: Epic Flights Around the World," which is due early next year.
Clearly, the glory days of record-setting global air travel have not completely passed. For those who can muster the time and money, there are still rare experiences to be found out there.
Is this event canceled ? Lack of interest for the $11900 tickets ?
Oct 28, 2018, 10:13 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2017
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Two months ago CNN mentioned this upcoming event:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...-50/index.html
The website https://www.overthepoles2018.com redrects to a nonexistent WIX.com page, presumably it is removed.
Is this event canceled ? Lack of interest for the $11900 tickets ?
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...-50/index.html
The website https://www.overthepoles2018.com redrects to a nonexistent WIX.com page, presumably it is removed.
Is this event canceled ? Lack of interest for the $11900 tickets ?
Oct 28, 2018, 8:34 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
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Wayback machine has the original at https://web.archive.org/web/20180512...poles2018.com/
I could only get it to render with IE.
WM has records of the site starting in mid-May and the content disappeared in early August.
A website for a $12K specialty flight only appearing 5 months before the supposed flight date tells me this was never likely to happen, if it even was real.
I could only get it to render with IE.
WM has records of the site starting in mid-May and the content disappeared in early August.
A website for a $12K specialty flight only appearing 5 months before the supposed flight date tells me this was never likely to happen, if it even was real.
Last edited by CPRich; Oct 28, 2018 at 8:42 pm
Oct 28, 2018, 8:40 pm
#4
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https://www.facebook.com/Flight50/
Friday, October 26 was scheduled to be the departure date for the "Polar Explorer" flight around the world over both the Earth's poles—a journey I was invited to document for the final chapter of my book.
Unfortunately, the possibility for the successful completion of the first trans-polar passenger flight in 41 years ended under circumstances that have yet to be fully explained. Hopefully, this incident will not deter future attempts to circle the poles for a new generation of aviation enthusiasts.
Even though Over Both Poles was put on hold awaiting the completion of the Polar Explorer flight, I have used this time to locate additional photographs and documents that will add significantly to the story of these epic events.
I have also commissioned renowned aviation artist J.P. Santiago to complete a set of renderings for the aircraft that are covered in the book. Each aircraft will be portrayed in the markings as carried at the departure of the flight. I look forward to sharing J.P.'s outstanding works with you.
Unfortunately, the possibility for the successful completion of the first trans-polar passenger flight in 41 years ended under circumstances that have yet to be fully explained. Hopefully, this incident will not deter future attempts to circle the poles for a new generation of aviation enthusiasts.
Even though Over Both Poles was put on hold awaiting the completion of the Polar Explorer flight, I have used this time to locate additional photographs and documents that will add significantly to the story of these epic events.
I have also commissioned renowned aviation artist J.P. Santiago to complete a set of renderings for the aircraft that are covered in the book. Each aircraft will be portrayed in the markings as carried at the departure of the flight. I look forward to sharing J.P.'s outstanding works with you.
Oct 29, 2018, 8:06 am
#5
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Frankly, this sounds awful. $12k to fly Y in an A340 for a couple days? Nope.
I might pay good money to go to Antarctica. Someday, I probably will do that. But to fly over it and catch a little glimpse out the window from 30,000 feet? Why?
Flying over the Arctic is something you can do on all sorts of regularly-scheduled routes, and there's really nothing there. That part is pretty uninteresting. I'd rather spend money going to a village above the Arctic circle.
I might pay good money to go to Antarctica. Someday, I probably will do that. But to fly over it and catch a little glimpse out the window from 30,000 feet? Why?
Flying over the Arctic is something you can do on all sorts of regularly-scheduled routes, and there's really nothing there. That part is pretty uninteresting. I'd rather spend money going to a village above the Arctic circle.
Oct 29, 2018, 12:12 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 552
Frankly, this sounds awful. $12k to fly Y in an A340 for a couple days? Nope.
I might pay good money to go to Antarctica. Someday, I probably will do that. But to fly over it and catch a little glimpse out the window from 30,000 feet? Why?
Flying over the Arctic is something you can do on all sorts of regularly-scheduled routes, and there's really nothing there. That part is pretty uninteresting. I'd rather spend money going to a village above the Arctic circle.
I might pay good money to go to Antarctica. Someday, I probably will do that. But to fly over it and catch a little glimpse out the window from 30,000 feet? Why?
Flying over the Arctic is something you can do on all sorts of regularly-scheduled routes, and there's really nothing there. That part is pretty uninteresting. I'd rather spend money going to a village above the Arctic circle.
Oct 31, 2018, 7:59 am
#7
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Frankly, this sounds awful. $12k to fly Y in an A340 for a couple days? Nope.
I might pay good money to go to Antarctica. Someday, I probably will do that. But to fly over it and catch a little glimpse out the window from 30,000 feet? Why?
Flying over the Arctic is something you can do on all sorts of regularly-scheduled routes, and there's really nothing there. That part is pretty uninteresting. I'd rather spend money going to a village above the Arctic circle.
I might pay good money to go to Antarctica. Someday, I probably will do that. But to fly over it and catch a little glimpse out the window from 30,000 feet? Why?
Flying over the Arctic is something you can do on all sorts of regularly-scheduled routes, and there's really nothing there. That part is pretty uninteresting. I'd rather spend money going to a village above the Arctic circle.
It does sound like a dreadful trip. And for that price, I'd invest in a trip to Antarctica, which I also hope to do one day.
Oct 31, 2018, 8:10 am
#8
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