A Retired Lufthansa Jet Is Now Landing Tourists on Antarctic Ice

One of Lufthansa’s retired Airbus A340-600s has found a second career at the bottom of the world. The roughly 18.5-year-old jet, once registered D-AIHU and now D-AUSY, is being flown by German charter airline Universal Sky Carrier for White Desert, the luxury Antarctic camp operator, under a five-year agreement, according to Aviation A2Z. The route runs from Cape Town to the Wolf’s Fang ice runway in Antarctica, a flight of about five and a half hours.

The aircraft left Germany for Cape Town on October 27 and made its first Antarctic flight on October 31. By November 8 it had completed three round trips. The Antarctic flying season generally runs from November to February, when the ice runway can be used and White Desert’s camps are open to guests. aeroTelegraph reported that USC planned to fly its ex-Lufthansa jets in their original 281-seat Lufthansa layout at first, with a reconfiguration to come later.

The new operator replaces Portugal’s Hi Fly, which ran the service for five years and introduced its own A340-600 to the route in November 2025, described at the time as the first of its type to land in Antarctica. The route crosses the Southern Ocean far from any alternative airport, which is why long-range widebodies have become the aircraft of choice for the run.

Universal Sky Carrier bought five of Lufthansa’s retired A340-600s earlier this year, aeroTelegraph reported in June, returning two to service as D-AUSY and D-AUSX and passing two others on to be dismantled for spare parts. Ticket prices for White Desert’s trips have not been published alongside the aircraft news, but the camps sit firmly in the ultra-luxury bracket.

Sources: Aviation A2Z, aeroTelegraph