Qantas’ QF28 took the far southern route between Santiago and Sydney yesterday, overflying the coast of Antarctica. The flight normally passes over the Southern Pacific Ocean only as far south as 70°, yesterday’s flight flew to 74.17°S due to the flight avoiding strong headwinds along the normal flight path.
ETOPS at the “bottom” of the world
Qantas’ QF28 between Santiago and Sydney is operated by the airline’s Boeing 787-9. In this particular case, the airline’s newest 787, having been delivered at the beginning of June. The airline’s 787s are all ETOPS certified, which allows them to fly a certain distance away from the nearest suitable airfield in case of the loss of one engine. In Qantas’ case, their 787s are certified for ETOPS 330, which means that they can operate 330 minutes (5 hours, 30 minutes) on one engine before reaching an alternate airport. With ETOPS 330 only the center of the Antarctic continent is off limits.
Why go so far south?
Winds along the flight path yesterday were strong and perfectly positioned to increase time and fuel burn if the normal flight path was followed. By flying further south, QF28 was able to keep the headwinds to a minimum.
An incredible view of Antarctica, right?
Passengers on the QF28 would have had an incredible view of the Antarctic coast and the continent’s snowy interior—had they been on the flight at another time of year. It is the middle of Antarctic winter at the moment and dark throughout the day. On a flight during the summer, this is what the passengers could have seen.
Qantas is no stranger to Antarctica
Qantas regularly operates charter flights that passengers low over the Antarctic coast and mountains during the summer months. They also operate flights to view the Aurora Australis (southern lights). And in 2021, Qantas operated its longest commercial flight to date from Buenos Aires to Darwin. That flight crossed the Antarctic coast in multiple places, flying just slightly further south than this week’s QF28.
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-300x148.jpg)
