Sightseeing flight in Iceland: plane or helicopter?
A small plane costs about half as much per minute as a helicopter and covers more ground. Pay for the helicopter only when you want the landing.
The short version
- Per minute, the planes from Skaftafell cost roughly €7. The helicopters cost roughly €11 to €14.
- The cheapest flight is a 15-minute plane loop from €167. The cheapest helicopter is 30 minutes from €409.
- Planes fly higher and further. Helicopters fly lower and closer, and some routes land.
- Every flight we sell leaves from Skaftafell on the south-east coast, about four and a half hours from Reykjavík.
- Choose the helicopter for the landing, not for the view. The view is excellent from both.
Take the plane unless you want to land. On the routes we sell from Skaftafell, a small plane costs around €7 a minute and a helicopter around €11 to €14. For that difference the plane goes higher and further, which suits big landscapes like the braided rivers and the Laki craters. The helicopter goes lower and closer, and on some routes it puts you down on the ground. If the landing is the point, pay for the helicopter. If the view is the point, the plane is the better buy.
All of these are flown by Atlantsflug from the Skaftafell terminal in Vatnajökull National Park. Every plane seat is a window seat, and there is free parking and coffee afterwards. Scenic flights also run from Reykjavík and the north with other operators, but we do not list those, so this page sticks to what we can book for you.
What a minute costs
| Flight | Aircraft | Time | From | Per minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scenic tour | Plane | 15 min | €167 | about €11 |
| Glacier Edge | Plane | 30 min | €201 | about €7 |
| Black Sands & Riverbeds | Plane | up to 45 min | €312 | about €7 |
| Laki Craters | Plane | up to 50 min | €331 | about €7 |
| Glacier Edge, no landing | Helicopter | 30 min | €409 | about €14 |
| Black Sands & Riverbeds, landing | Helicopter | up to 65 min | €729 | about €11 |
The helicopter figures include time on the ground where there is a landing, so the flying minute costs a little more than the table shows.
The planes
Scenic Airplane Tour is 15 minutes from €167. You fly over the outlet glaciers near Skaftafell, with views to Öræfajökull and Hvannadalshnúkur, Iceland’s highest peak, and the black sand plains of Skeiðarársandur. It is short, but it is a real flight, and the cheapest way to see Vatnajökull from above.
Glacier Edge Airplane Tour is 30 minutes from €201. It follows Svínafellsjökull, Skeiðarárjökull and the other outlet glaciers, with icefalls and crevasses below. This is the one we would book for most people. It is twice the flight of the 15-minute loop for €56 more.
Black Sands & Riverbeds is up to 45 minutes from €312. It is the photographers’ route, over glacial rivers that spread across the sand in braided patterns. From the air they look almost painted.
Laki Craters is up to 50 minutes from €331. It heads west into the highlands to the Lakagígar crater row, about 25 km of craters from the 1783 eruption, over moss-covered lava fields. You only see the scale of it from above, and the plane is a far cheaper way to do that than the helicopter.
The helicopters
A helicopter flies lower and slower, into glacier valleys and along ridgelines, closer to the ice than a plane can go. That feels different, especially on the glacier routes. The cheapest is the 30-minute Glacier Edge flight with no landing, from €409, which we cover with the rest of the Skaftafell helicopters in our guide to which helicopter flight to book.
To see what a landing adds, compare Black Sands & Riverbeds by helicopter, from €729 for up to 65 minutes, with the same route by plane at €312. The helicopter adds one landing out on the black sand plains, where you step out among the rivers. That is €417 more for the landing and the lower angle. Some people think that is the best money they spend in Iceland. Others would rather have an ice cave and a day on the Westfjords coast.
For photographers
The 30-minute photo flight over the riverbeds is from €634, and that is for a private charter, not per seat. It uses a Cessna 207, a high-wing plane with three windows that open, and you plan the route with the pilot around the light before you take off. The plane seats up to five. Split between two or three photographers, it costs less per person than a helicopter seat, with open windows the scheduled flights do not have. For anyone not carrying a serious camera, the scheduled plane is enough.
Weather
Both aircraft need decent visibility, and pilots change routes on the day to follow it. Nobody can promise the exact route. Planes and helicopters are both grounded by low cloud. Book early in your time on the south-east coast so a lost flight can move to the next day.
Our honest take
Book the Glacier Edge plane at €201. Thirty minutes over the ice, at the best price per minute, with every seat by a window. Go up to Laki at €331 if you care about volcanoes. Choose a helicopter only when the route lands, because that landing is what you are really paying the extra for.
