Wanaka
Wanaka helicopter flight: the quiet alternative to Queenstown
Wanaka sits an hour over the Crown Range from Queenstown, on a lake of its own, with the same mountains behind it and a fraction of the traffic. One flight on this page leaves from here, it lands on a glacier, and it is rated 5.0 across 93 reviews.
Quick answer
A Wanaka helicopter flight costs $246 for thirty minutes with a glacier landing, and it is rated 5.0 across 93 reviews. It is the only Wanaka listing on this page and it does something the cheap Queenstown flights do not: thirty minutes rather than twenty, and a landing on ice rather than on an alpine ridge. If Queenstown slots are full, or you are staying in Wanaka anyway, this is the flight.
Flying from Wanaka, at a glance
- The flight
- $24630 minutes with a glacier landing
- Rating
- 5.0across 93 reviews
- Compared with Queenstown
- 10 minutes longerand a glacier rather than a ridge
- Lake Wanaka
- About 45 km longand 300 m deep in places
- From Queenstown
- About 1 hourover the Crown Range
- Mount Aspiring
- 3,033 mthe high peak in the national park to the west
- Traffic
- Far quieterthan Queenstown, in the air and on the ground
- Whole visit
- About 90 minfrom check-in to walking back out
- Best months
- Feb – Aprthe settled window, as everywhere in the alps
- Free cancellation
- Yesup to 24 hours before
Why fly from here
What Wanaka gives you that Queenstown does not
Ten more minutes, a glacier instead of a ridge, and far less traffic.
A longer flight for a middling price. Thirty minutes with a glacier landing at $246 sits between the twenty-minute Queenstown flights and the fifty-minute Earnslaw Burn trip, and it lands on ice rather than on a ridge.
Emptier air and easier slots. Queenstown is the busiest helicopter town in the country. Wanaka is not. In December and January, when Queenstown is booked out days ahead, Wanaka often has space.
The country to the west. Mount Aspiring National Park starts a short flight from town: glaciated peaks up to 3,033 metres, and valleys with no road. It is the same Southern Alps the Queenstown flights reach, from a different angle and usually with fewer other aircraft in the sky.
And the lake. Wanaka is about forty-five kilometres long and deep, with islands in it, and the town sits on a beach at one end. From the air it reads as one clean shape in a way Wakatipu does not.
Queenstown is an hour away and has four flights, including the only route to Fiordland.
Flights from Queenstown→Common questions
Wanaka flights, answered
How much is a Wanaka helicopter flight?
$246 for thirty minutes with a glacier landing, rated 5.0 across 93 reviews.
Is it better than flying from Queenstown?
It is longer and it lands on ice rather than an alpine ridge, and the air is quieter. Queenstown has more choice, including the only helicopter route to Milford Sound. Fly from whichever town you are staying in.
How far is Wanaka from Queenstown?
About an hour by road over the Crown Range.
Does the flight land?
Yes, on a glacier, for about ten minutes with the engine shut down.
Is it easier to get a slot here?
Usually, yes. Queenstown is the busiest helicopter town in New Zealand; Wanaka is not.
What is the best time of year?
February to April, as everywhere in the Southern Alps: the most settled weather with snow still on the tops.
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 verdictWhich flight is best
One recommendation for each town, and why.
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.
