Sightseeing flight
glacier

back to sightseeing flights

Route

Program

Example (times according to the above slots with a 45 min flight)
08.30 Arrival| Welcome Coffee at restaurant (individually)
09.00 Welcome at Birrfeld | greeting by the pilot
09.10 Briefing with the pilot on the biplane
09.20 Boarding the biplane | Warm up engine
09.30 Take off sighseeing flight
11.40 Landing at Birrfeld | Fotosession on Tarmac (with own cameras)
11.50 By by with pilot & biplane

When & Where

Booking Select a main date and time period as well as 1-2 alternate dates/times (weather/available slots) when requesting. You will receive an inquiry/booking confirmation.

On site We meet in front of the AIS Birrfeld (entrance to the flight school, at blue automatic sliding door)

Flugplatz Birrfeld | CH-5242 Lupfig

Weather

The flight takes place under favourable visual flight conditions (VFR). More information on the status bar at the top of this website. No instrument flight (IFR) is possible on this route.

Amount of participants

1 – 2 Persons per flight. Groups are possible.

Price

CHF 2376 airfare 2h 12 min in the biplane (7 min ground|2h 05 min air)
CHF 17 landing fee Birrfeld
CHF 2393 total price for 2 persons

The flight times given are indicative. The effective operating time is calculated at CHF 18 per minute according to the operating hours counter (HOBBS Time). Landing fees, passenger or customs fees according to the regulations of the airport. The flights are on a private basis, non-commercial and at cost price. Airfare is payable in advance. Final payment on site in cash or credit card. The credit card fee is not included in the total price.

Details

Emmental

The charming hills, rugged valleys, wild waters and the steep mats of the Emmental form the welcoming committee for the magnificent alpine panorama that awaits us shortly. The Emmental belongs to the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch. The unmistakable hilly landscape covered with lush green is characteristic of the unique Emmental. The numerous paths that wind through the meadows are a true paradise for cyclists and hikers.

Aletsch glacier

The Great Aletsch Glacier has shaped the landscape in the Aletsch Arena over thousands of years. During the last ice age (approximately 18,000 years ago), the ice still covered the mountain ridges between Bettmerhorn and Riederhorn - only the peaks of Bettmerhorn and Eggishorn were free of ice. This can be seen by looking into nature: while the then ice-covered area appears polished by glacial movement, the Bettmerhorn and Eggishorn have rugged shapes.

Also in the Aletsch Forest, the growth and decline of the Great Aletsch Glacier can be seen in nature. Around 11,000 years ago, the tongue of the ice giant lay in the Rhone valley, its edge reaching almost as far as Riederfurka. The mighty lateral moraine formed during this process is clearly visible on the moraine path. The Great Aletsch Glacier had its last high point around 1860: it was about 3 km longer than today, the glacier edge was a good 200 m higher in the area of the Aletsch Forest. This area still stands out as a bright band with quite young vegetation in the landscape.

When two glaciers merge, the respective lateral moraines unite to form a medial moraine. Since three large firn fields meet at Konkordiaplatz, the Great Aletsch Glacier has two medial moraines. These appear as dark lines along the whole length of the ice flow. The right medial moraine in the direction of glacier flow is called Kranzberg medial moraine, the left medial moraine in the direction of glacier flow is called Trugberg medial moraine.

Grimsel glacier

On the left and right green and grey shimmering granite rock - roundly polished by the glacier, at the top rugged and angular. In between crystal clear mountain lakes, moorland, whistling marmots. The glacier tongue at the far end, a milk-coloured reservoir with its impressive dam - in the Oberaar region, nature and technology shake hands.

Rhone glacier

In the 19th century and up to the beginning of the 20th century, the glacier in the headwaters of the Rhone reached down to the valley floor in front of the glacier, at times up to the windows of the Grand Hotel Glacier du Rhône. A visit to the ice grotto at the Hotel Belvédère and the newly forming glacial end lake is still worthwhile today.

Since the opening of today's Furka Pass road 150 years ago, thousands of tourists have come to see the unique mountain panorama with the Rhone Glacier. In 1914, there are said to have been 19,102 passengers in the stagecoaches. Today you park at the Hotel Belvédère and walk about 200 metres to the entrance of the ice grotto, which is rebored every year. The glacier presents itself white-grey, but in the 100m long ice tunnel and in the ice chamber it glows in magically fine shades of blue. 30-40 metres a year, sometimes more than 10cm a day. A lot of ice also melts in summer - if the ice grotto is over 100m long at the beginning of the season in June, it is still 70m at the end of summer. You can enjoy the view from the glacier panorama platform and soon also from the new glacial lake platform. A new glacial lake is being created at the end of the glacier between the melting front of the Rhonegletscher and a prominent rock riegel.

Furkapass

The Furka pass also connects the Urseren valley (the upper valley of the Reuss river) in the canton of Uri with the Goms valley in the canton of Valais at 2429 m above sea level. The European watershed between the Mediterranean and the North Sea runs along this pass. The name comes from the Latin furca, which means a two-pronged fork.

The pass was already used in Roman times. Even later there was a mule track, over which from the 13th century onwards more and more goods were transported, such as salt, wine, furs and grain; Goms also had Alps in the Ursern valley. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Rhone glacier still reached down to Gletsch. Between 1864 and 1866, the almost 40 kilometres long road with a width of at least 4.20 metres from Hospental to Oberwald was built. The Swiss Confederation paid two thirds of the costs for military reasons. A horse post ran on the new road until 1921, when the first post bus crossed the pass. Construction of the Furka Railway began in 1911. It was opened in 1925, but could only be used for a few months in summer. In 1982 the winter-safe Furka base tunnel was put into operation.

In 1964 some scenes of the James Bond film Goldfinger with Sean Connery and Gert Fröbe were shot on the Furka Pass. The scenes in Switzerland are now considered classics of Bond history and were also quoted in later films, such as the scene about Monaco in Goldeneye.

The Furka Pass lies on the Rhone route, the national cycle route 1 of Switzerland. Until 1981, the Furka-Oberalp Railway overcame the Furka Pass on a cogwheel route that was not winter-safe and in the Furka summit tunnel, completed in 1925. At 2160 metres above sea level, this is the highest Alpine breakthrough in Switzerland. With the opening of the Furka base tunnel, the mountain line was closed down. However, railway enthusiasts were able to prevent the dismantling of the line. From 1992, the Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke AG operated a museum railway on parts of the mountain line. On 12 August 2010 the entire line was reopened. A car transport service through the railway base tunnel between Realp and Oberwald VS is offered all year round.

Rigi (IT’S A LADY)

First mentioned in 1479 by Albrecht von Bonstetten - the name Rigi was derived from the Latin Regina montium "Queen of the Mountains", which characterized the majesty and beauty of the mountain. As early as the 18th century, the Rigi was known as a destination for excursions and holidays thanks to its good location on Lake Lucerne. In 1816, the first wooden guest house was built on the Kulm. This construction was largely supported by the Zurich panorama draughtsman Heinrich Keller. Further guest houses were built in the following decades. In 1875, the Grand Hotel "Schreiber" with 300 beds was opened as the largest building constructed to date in the summit area. This was demolished in the early 1950s and replaced by a smaller new building.

In 1859, Friedrich Albrecht proposed a railway to the Rigi, whose gondolas were to be driven by gas balloons and take you up the mountain. The Vitznau Rigi Railway (rack railway) was put into operation on 21 May 1871 as the first mountain railway in Europe. It reached the summit in 1873 and has been electrically operated since 1937. VRB had to lease the line from Staffelhöhe to Kulm from ARB until the merger, as it did not have a concession for this part of the line, which was located in Schwyz.

The Arth-Rigi-Bahn (rack railway) was put into operation on 4 June 1875. In 1907, this railway was the first standard gauge rack railway in the world to be converted to electric propulsion. The original valley line from Arth am See to Goldau no longer exists. Today the railway starts at Arth-Goldau station.

The Weggis-Rigi Kaltbad panoramic aerial cableway was put into operation on 15 July 1968. The aerial cableway Kräbel Rigi-Scheidegg LKRS from Goldau was put into operation in 1953. Capacity was increased in 1960 and 1985, and in 2017 it was replaced by a Garaventa "compact railway" with 15-passenger cabins made by CWA. Other, smaller aerial cableways operate from Vitznau to the Wissiflue and to Hinterbergen, between Gschwänd and Burggeist, and from Brunnen to the Urmiberg.

The two rack railways use the same standard gauge tracks with racks according to the Riggenbach system and the same traction voltage of 1500 V DC, so that it is easy to replace vehicles. Between Rigi Kaltbad and Rigi Scheidegg, the narrow-gauge Rigi-Kaltbad-Scheidegg railway was built between 1874 and 1875, but only made a profit in a few years and interrupted operations several times. In 1931, operations were completely discontinued, the rolling stock sold and the line was discontinued in 1942. On the route of this railway today, a comfortable hiking trail, which is also popular in winter, leads over bridges and through a tunnel.

Lucerne

Lucerne is the social and cultural centre of Central Switzerland. In the field of education, it is the seat of the University of Lucerne, the Lucerne University of Teacher Education and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, among others. Events with supraregional appeal include the Lucerne Carnival and the Lucerne Festival. Lucerne is an important tourist destination in Switzerland, on the one hand because of its location on Lake Lucerne and its proximity to the Alps, and on the other hand thanks to sights such as the Chapel Bridge and the Swiss Museum of Transport.

Lake of Hallwil

The lake in the Swiss midlands is located in the Seetal, like Lake Baldeggersee a little further south. It is 8.4 km long, 1.5 km wide at its widest point and a maximum depth of 48 m. Its surface area is 10.3 km², five sixths of which are located in the Lenzburg district of Canton Aargau and one sixth in the Hochdorf district of Canton Lucerne. The main inflow or outflow is the Aabach, which flows into the Bünz at Möriken-Wildegg (which in turn flows into the Aare almost two hundred metres further on). Next to it, numerous small streams flow into the lake.

back to sightseeing flights