Iceland from Above

The culture and the landscape of Iceland have been shaped by isolation and the extreme forces of nature. Commonly referred to as “The Land of Fire and Ice,” Iceland is a country of sharp and striking contrasts.

Flying over Iceland elevated my experience of the island from gorgeous to breathtaking!

TAKE FLIGHT

Atlantsflug is one of the few companies that can offer you this experience. Operating since 2004 from their private airstrip near Skaftafell National Park in the Vatnajökull Region, Atlantsflug offers flightseeing tours all year-round. Flights varied from 20 minutes to 75 minutes, and customized longer trips all over the island are also an option. Also provided are specialized personal photography flights, both for professional and amateur photographers with windows opened for picture-taking.

Their location in Skaftafell allows easy access to the untouched highlands and glaciers and excellent viewing opportunities.

After the pilot gave us the safety instructions, we left from Skaftafell Airport and flew over the black sands of Ingólfshöfði where the first settler of Iceland arrived. From there we surveyed Skaftafell National Park and Svartifoss Waterfall which is a part of Vatnajökull National Park. Vatnajökull National Park is home of Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe (outside of the Arctic region), at which we gazed and gaped. Then we went over the area of Lakagígar a crater chain forged in 1783 by one of the most massive volcanic eruptions in recorded history. Next, it was Langisjór, a remote lake in Iceland’s Highlands, 670 m above sea level. And then there was the ever-popular Landmannalaugar, famous for its colorful rhyolite mountains and accommodating hot springs. On the way back, we flew over Mýrdalsjökull Glacier and then back to Skaftafell.

ICELAND FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

“Elated“ is a perfect way to describe how I felt flying over Iceland’s glaciers, waterfalls, lakes, craters and volcanos.

And “free“—not only from the earth we traverse day after day but free from the cares and concerns of a life that affords few such opportunities to see another perspective and a chance to touch the incredible and make it one‘s own.

We would recommend this tour to everyone that visits the Vatnajökull Region. It‘s poetry in motion.

Flights varied from 20 minutes to 75 minutes, and customized longer trips all over the island are also an option. Also provided are specialized personal photography flights, both for professional and amateur photographers with windows opened for picture-taking.

Text by Nejra Mesetovic Photos: Elías Arnar and courtesy of Atlantsflug