The verdict
The best helicopter flight in New Zealand: all 14 ranked
Fourteen flights, five towns, and one question that comes before every other: where are you actually staying? A flight from Franz Josef and a flight from Queenstown are not cheaper and dearer versions of the same thing. They are different mountains, four hours apart by road. Here is the best flight in each town, and the best one overall.
Quick answer
The best helicopter flight in New Zealand is the Franz Josef glacier flight with an alpine landing at $216. It carries 693 reviews at 4.8 — more evidence than any other flight on this page — and ninety seconds after lifting off you go from temperate rainforest to blue ice. If you are in Queenstown, take the Remarkables flight at $167; in the Mackenzie, the Aoraki flight at $207; in Wanaka, the glacier flight at $246.
The fourteen flights, at a glance
- Flights compared
- 14across five South Island towns
- Best evidenced
- 693 reviewsthe Franz Josef alpine landing, at 4.8
- Cheapest
- $167the Remarkables, 20 minutes with a landing
- Best rated with evidence
- 4.9three flights share it, all with 200+ reviews
- Dearest
- $687Queenstown to Milford Sound and back
- Shortest
- 20 minutesfour flights share the shortest option
- Longest
- 90 minutesthe Fiordland crossing
- Flights that land
- 13 of 14on snow, ice or an alpine ridge
- Reviews in total
- 3,590across all fourteen listings
- What decides it
- Your townbefore anything else on this page
How we rank them
What actually separates one New Zealand flight from another
Your town, what it lands on, and how much evidence is behind the score.
Three things, and the first is geography rather than quality.
Which town it leaves from. Franz Josef, Queenstown, Mount Cook, Wanaka and Milford Sound are hours apart. Nobody drives four hours over the alps to take a slightly better helicopter flight, and nobody should. The first filter is where you are sleeping that night, which is exactly what the switch above the cards on the home page does.
What it lands on. Thirteen of the fourteen flights here land. An alpine ridge above Lake Wakatipu, the neve of the Franz Josef Glacier, a snowfield beneath Aoraki, the Tasman. These are genuinely different ten minutes, and the landing is what you are buying.
How much evidence stands behind the rating. Four flights carry more than three hundred ratings: 693, 527, 514 and 402. Then 356, 305, 233, 225, 190, 93, 18, 14, 11 and 9. A 5.0 from nine people is not the same information as 4.8 from 693, and we label it that way.
Every trip, current fare
Every New Zealand helicopter flight, cheapest first
Fourteen flights with the town, the air time and the cost per minute. Use the departure column first: it removes most of this table for any given traveller.
| Flight | Air time | Price | Departs from | Cost per minute | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queenstown: Remarkables Helicopter Flight & Alpine LandingThe cheapest way into the New Zealand alps | 20 min | $167 | Queenstown | $8.35 | 4.8 · 233 |
| Queenstown: Sunset Heli Flight & Remarkables Alpine LandingThe Remarkables in the last hour of light | 20 min | $194 | Queenstown | $9.70 | 4.9 · 18 |
| Franz Josef: Glacier Helicopter Ride with Snow LandingSnow landing high on the Franz Josef Glacier | 20 min | $196 | Franz Josef | $9.80 | 4.9 · 190 |
| Mount Cook: Scenic Helicopter Flight with Alpine LandingAoraki, the highest mountain in the country | 25 min | $207 | Mount Cook | $8.28 | 4.7 · 514 |
| Queenstown: Pilot’s Choice Helicopter Tour & Alpine LandingThe pilot picks the route for the weather | 30 min | $210 | Queenstown | $7.00 | 4.9 · 305 |
| Franz Josef Glacier: Helicopter Flight & Alpine LandingThe best-evidenced flight in New Zealand: 693 reviews | 20 min | $216 | Franz Josef | $10.80 | 4.8 · 693 |
| Wanaka: Scenic Helicopter Flight with Glacier ExperienceFrom Wanaka, over the lake and into the alps | 30 min | $246 | Wanaka | $8.20 | 5.0 · 93 |
| Franz Josef & Fox Glaciers Helicopter Flight & Snow LandingBoth West Coast glaciers, with a snow landing | 30 min | $265 | Franz Josef | $8.83 | 4.7 · 402 |
| Franz Josef: 35min Helicopter Trip over Two GlaciersThirty-five minutes over two glaciers | 35 min | $270 | Franz Josef | $7.71 | 4.9 · 527 |
| Mount Cook: Ski Plane and Helicopter Glacier Combo FlightA ski plane on the Tasman, then a helicopter | 55 min | $300 | Mount Cook | $5.45 | 4.7 · 356 |
| Milford Sound: Helicopter Flight with Glacier LandingFiordland from the air, with a glacier landing | 45 min | $325 | Milford Sound | $7.22 | 4.1 · 9 |
| Mount Cook: Tasman Glacier Helicopter FlightThe longest glacier in New Zealand | 40 min | $357 | Mount Cook | $8.93 | 4.7 · 11 |
| Glacier Explorer & Earnslaw Burn Helicopter FlightThe hanging glaciers of Earnslaw Burn | 50 min | $399 | Queenstown | $7.98 | 4.9 · 225 |
| Milford Sound Scenic Helicopter Flight with LandingsQueenstown to Milford Sound and back | 90 min | $687 | Milford Sound | $7.63 | 5.0 · 14 |
The best flight in each town
Five towns, five answers
Book the town first. The rest follows.
Franz Josef: the alpine landing at $216. Twenty minutes, 693 reviews at 4.8, and the transition from rainforest to ice that nowhere else offers. If you want more, the thirty-five-minute two-glacier flight at $270 has 527 reviews at 4.9 and adds the Fox icefall.
Queenstown: the Remarkables at $167. The cheapest flight on this page and a proper alpine landing, twenty minutes from the middle of town. For something longer, the Earnslaw Burn flight at $399 reaches hanging glaciers in a valley with no road into it, and carries 225 reviews at 4.9.
Mount Cook: the alpine landing at $207. Twenty-five minutes under the highest mountain in New Zealand with 514 reviews at 4.7. The ski plane combination at $300 is the more unusual purchase and lands you on the Tasman itself.
Wanaka: the glacier flight at $246. Thirty minutes over the lake and into the alps, rated 5.0 across 93 reviews. The quiet alternative to flying from Queenstown, and often easier to get a slot.
Fiordland: Milford Sound at $687. Ninety minutes from Queenstown with two landings, and the only way to see the fiord without ten hours of driving.
What we would not book
Three listings to think twice about
Not because they are bad — because of what stands behind them or what they duplicate.
- Anything rated 5.0 on fewer than fifteen reviews
Two flights on this page are in that position. Treat them as unproven rather than excellent, and book them for the product rather than the number.
- A second glacier flight in the same town
If you have flown Franz Josef once, the second listing shows you the same ice for more money. Spend the difference on a different mountain instead.
- Milford Sound by air if you are driving there anyway
It is a magnificent flight and it is four times the price of most of this page. If the fiord is already on your itinerary, put the money into a glacier landing.
Not sure which town gives you which mountains? Here is the map, in words.
All five departure points→Common questions
Choosing a flight, answered
Which is the best helicopter flight in New Zealand?
The Franz Josef glacier flight with an alpine landing at $216, which carries 693 reviews at 4.8 — more evidence than any other flight on this page.
Which is best from Queenstown?
The Remarkables flight at $167 for a first flight, or the Earnslaw Burn flight at $399 if you want hanging glaciers and fifty minutes.
Which is best at Mount Cook?
The alpine landing at $207 with 514 reviews at 4.7. The ski plane combination at $300 is more unusual and lands on the Tasman Glacier.
Should I fly from Queenstown or Wanaka?
Whichever you are staying in. The Wanaka flight at $246 is rated 5.0 from 93 reviews and is usually easier to book at short notice; Queenstown has more choice.
Is the most expensive flight the best?
No. The dearest listing is the Milford Sound crossing at $687 with fourteen reviews. The best-evidenced flight costs less than a third of that.
Do I need to book far ahead?
In December and January, yes. February to April is the best weather window and the good slots still go a week or more in advance.
Go deeper
More on flying over New Zealand
What it costs
From $167 to $687, and what a minute in the air is worth.
The glaciersThe glacier flights
Rainforest to blue ice in ninety seconds, from $196.
AorakiFlights at Aoraki
Under the highest mountain in New Zealand, from $207.
QueenstownFlights from Queenstown
Four flights, from the cheapest here to Milford Sound.
FiordlandMilford Sound by air
Ninety minutes that replaces a ten-hour drive.
WanakaFlights from Wanaka
The quiet alternative to flying from Queenstown.
