ACASS Completes First Falcon 8X Flight to Antarctica

ACASS completed its first-ever flight to Antarctica on October 28 with a Dassault Falcon 8X, a rare mission marking the culmination of several months of multi-jurisdiction coordination. The global business aviation services provider said the flight is the first of seven scheduled trips for the ACASS-operated trijet—and just one of 10 business aviation flights overall—this season, reflective of the complexity of the undertaking.

ACASS v-p of operations Derek Holtter attributed the rarity of flights to Antarctica to “the extreme environmental conditions, logistical challenges, and regulatory coordination required.” He elaborated that it took several months of collaboration between aviation authorities and stakeholders to make the project happen, with “multi-jurisdiction coordination and the unique flight environment of Antarctica [making] this operation a significant milestone for ACASS.”

Onboard the Falcon 8X were a San Marino CAA inspector and eight team members from White Desert Antarctica. Founded in 2005, this polar exploration company is the first operator to fly guests directly from South Africa’s Cape Town to its privately-operated 3,000-meter-long Wolf Fang runway in Antarctica.

Despite ACASS’ experience in operating “in the most challenging regions of the world,” Holter said Antarctica had so far remained the “one continent [it] hadn’t conquered”—a milestone that has now been successfully achieved.