Milford Sound Scenic Flight with Landing from Queenstown
Description
Don’t miss out on a spectacular scenic flight with Air Milford to Milford Sound and back. This tour is perfect for those who have already done a cruise in Milford Sound and want to experience the spectacular region from the air and land. This 4.5-hour trip includes a landing in Milford Sound with up to 2 hours on the ground to take a self-guided walk along the shore line, soak up the surroundings, take pictures or have delicious coffee and cake at the cafe (at own expense) before your return scenic flight to Queenstown.
Tour Options
Itinerary
On arrival that the Air Milford base you will meet your pilot, for a full pre-flight briefing, before embarking on your 35 minuet scenic flight over the Southern Alps, to Milford Sound. The flight time to Milford Sound is 35 minuets.
After takeoff, view Coronet Peak, one of New Zealand's premiere ski fields.
Fly over the Shotover river and Skippers canyon, this is where gold was discovered in the 1860's. This river became the world's 2nd highest gold bearing river in the world, next to the Klondike in Alaska.
Fly over the small settlement of Glenorchy, located at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Here you enjoy wonderful views of two braided river mouths joining the lake. The two rivers are the Dart and the Rees, both glacial fed, display wonderful colors as they mix with the lake.
Fly over the dense beech forest of the Routeburn and Hollyford. valleys. One of new Zealand 'great walks' traverses the Routeburn valley, its a 3-day hike through the valley and over an alpine pass into Fiordland National Park.
Fly over the main divide of the Southern Alps and into Fiordland National park. One of the first sights you will encounter on arrival in Fiordland National Park is Mt Tutoko, at over 8,900ft / 2,700meters it is Fiordland's highest peak. There are two main glaciers to view here, the Donne and the Age.
View the highest peak in Milford Sound, Mitre Peak. It impressively rises directly out of the water of the fiord, to it's summit at 5,560ft / 1,690 meters, which is just over a mile of vertical gain!
Fly the full length of the fiord, right out to the Tasman sea where you will turn and descend, before coming into land. This part of the flight really makes you appreciate the sheer size of the towering cliffs of the fiord, which rise over a mile high in some parts!
After landing in Milford Sound, your pilot will point out the way to the short walk along the shoreline and to the Milford Sound Cafe. Your pilot will give you a time to meet back at the airport and then you can enjoy exploring Milford at your own pace. Spend the next two hours self-guided, exploring the shoreline of the fiord, or head to the cafe, for a coffee and snack.
From the shore, view the Bowen Falls, it is one of Milford Sound's two permanent waterfalls and at 530ft / 162 meter is it's highest.
Meet your pilot back at the airport to commence your scenic flight back to Queenstown. The flight time is a further 35 minuets and traverses a different route.
After taking off in Milford Sound the flight path first takes in another view of the fiord, before tracing south, down the Arthur valley. At the head of this valley, the Sutherland Falls can be viewed, this is New Zealand's highest waterfall, falling impressively 1,900ft / 580 meters to the valley floor below.
The flight path then begins to track east over the Southern Alps and back towards Queenstown. New Zealand's second largest lake, lake Te Anau can be viewed stretching out to the south.
After once again crossing the main divide of the Southern Alps, taking in stunning views of small alpine lakes and jagged snow capped mountains, the route then traverses the densely forested Greenstone and Caples valleys.
After emerging from the Greenstone valley, fly over Lake Wakatipu. Lake Wakatipu is New Zealand's longest lake at 46 miles / 75 kms, it is also incredibly deep, up to 1,250ft / 380 meters at some points! Queenstown is nestled on the lake's shores, so some great views of the town are enjoyed before landing.
View the Walter Peak high country station, which is one of New Zealand's largest merino sheep farms.
View the Remarkable mountain range and Queenstown, before landing back at the Air Milford base for your drop-off back to your accommodation.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We provide our complimentary pick-up/drop-off service from all centrally located Queenstown accommodation, please update us with your details. If your accommodation is not centrally located, please let us know and we will send through parking directions.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Subject to favorable weather conditions. If cancelled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date or full refund
- Do not forget to bring a jacket and your camera
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Infant rates apply for 0 - 1 years of age, when the infant is sat on a parents lap, with an infant lap belt
Reviews(27)
Our family of four flew with Ben for a touchdown flight to the Milford Sound. We all considered it a highlight of our two-week trip to ANZ. The views of the snowcapped peaks, coupled with the lush greenery of the Sound at sea level. This was actually my second trip with Air Milford - having joined for a fly around the Queenstown area in early 2O25. That is actually part of the important part of the story here. I was scheduled to do Milford Sound with Air Milford when I flew previously. That trip ended up not happening because of weather at the Sound. This time, we also had weather challenges. That matters for two reasons. First, Air Milford - a family-run business - takes passenger safety very, very seriously. There make no trips that compromise the safety of their guests. Second, they also work hard to accommodate their guests. While we were not able to do the Fly-Cruise-Fly itinerary which we originally booked as a family, they waited for the weather to clear to enable the flight and touchdown at the Milford Sound. It was a phenomenal experience for us, and we are grateful for both the care for safety and the effort to find an alternative that worked for our family.
This experience was absolutely incredible. Every step of the way our wonderful pilot was informative, calm, and very knowledgeable. The whole experience was absolutely incredible and would 10000000% recommend Air Milford 😊
I gave this experience 5 stars as it is one of those special memories moments and if you can afford to spend the money on flying it saves the 8-10 hours round trip by coach or car to see the stunning Milford Sound. I’m not actually sure though if this exact trip is available now as when we arrived they were expecting us to do the flight-cruise on Milford-flight home package but I had originally chosen just the landing experience at Milford as I don’t travel well on boats but luckily there was very calm waters so agreed to do the cruise part as was easier to do the same as everyone else on our flight. 9 of us plus Emma boarded the light aircraft and all could have a window. Emma was our amazing pilot and a lovely young woman (sorry can’t remember her name) was also the great skipper on the catamaran. We were lucky in that it was a lovely day and I managed the boat part ok and you even got a hot drink and a muffin on board the boat. Got back to Queensland early afternoon so allowed for more time to explore this very scenic town. As said memorable trip up in the clouds. Thank you Emma, Paige and all at AirMilford. X
Absolutely fabulous trip. All organized fantastic and on time. It was a pleasure to spend our time with Air Milford team!
There is no other way to travel to Milford Sound! The views along the way change from minute to minute. Green hillsides to snowcapped mountains to beautiful blue lakes and of course the sound itself. As a first time small plane traveler, I was anxious at first but there was no need to worry.
Amazing experience and very well organised. Communication was great leading up to and during flight. Many thanks for letting me sit in the co-pilot seat
Thank you Scott for this incredible review! We are pleased to hear that you had an amazing experience and appreciated the communication throughout. It was our pleasure to have you on board, and we’re glad you enjoyed your time in the co-pilot seat! Kind regards, Air Milford
Fantastic not to be missed stunning scenery and great pilot full of knowledge well worth the money. Went on the five glaciers and Milford sound flight
Thank you for the wonderful review! Our Milford Sound & Big 5 Glaciers Scenic Flight truly is a fantastic experience not to be missed, showcasing unforgettable scenery from the stunning Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Park, with an overhead viewing of Milford Sound. We're so glad to hear you found the flight well worth it, thanks for flying with us! All the best for the remainder of your travels! Kind regards, Air Milford
We flew from Milford Sound to Queenstown with Tom. The experience was outstanding - Tom was friendly, professional and made the flight seem like a specialized tour. He took us over the sounds and back over the mountains pointing out all of the special areas of interest. Our 22-year old daughter sat up front, and he could not have been nicer. Highly recommended trip to complement the scenic morning drive from Queenstown to Milford.
Thank you for the excellent review! It’s great to hear you had an outstanding experience, and that Tom made it feel like a personalised tour. He is very accommodating and values sharing his knowledge about the area we fly in with guests. Although the drive into Milford Sound is undeniably spectacular, the flight back truly completes the experience. Our Coach/Nature Cruise/Fly package is a popular option guests book, as you are able to view Milford Sound from all perspectives. We wish you the best for the remainder of your travels! Kind regards, Air Milford
This was a once in a lifetime experience for me. The views were beautiful, flight was smooth and it was great to learn more about the area. The team did absolutely everything they could to arrange my flight, the pilots were fantastic and incredibly knowledgable and I was so impressed with the effort that was put in to make my flight possible. Everyone was welcoming, friendly, and informative - I can’t recommend them enough!!
Thank you for your fantastic 5-star review. We are thankful for the oppurtunity to host you and hope you got some great views and photos along the way!
We did just the flight, and not the cruise. We took the 2 hours to walk around the area and relax with a coffee at the Cafe. Our pilot, Anthony(?) was very friendly, and gave some fun and informative commentary both during our flights and when we met him at the Cafe. The plane was very, very cool! It had just snowed the night before, so the scenery was even my spectacular. The whole team was very friendly and efficient. This truly is a must-do activity in when you're in Queenstown, and Air Milford is definitely the way to do it!
Hi, It is always great to read a review of the Fly Landing Fly experience. It sounds like you really made the most of the time on the ground in Milford, as well as taking in the scenery of the flight. It is always extra special when there is fresh snow on the hills. Thank you for choosing to fly with Air Milford. Kind Regards, Kate
