Choosing to fly commercially to Antarctica rather than sail across the infamous Drake Passage, Andrew Pearce describes the first part of his epic journey via a detour of discovery to Easter Island in the South Pacific.
On a cold and dark evening in early January I found myself at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 C gates looking out of the window at the illuminated airfield. My aircraft for the journey ahead, a British Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, G-ZBKN (c/n 38630), had arrived from Beijing just a few hours earlier and the twin jet was being prepared and loaded ready for its next flight to the Chilean capital, Santiago. This was to be the first sector of a journey which would eventually lead to a landing at Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands.
Earlier, British Airways ground staff had welcomed me at the T5 bag drop area, but even a cheery wish of a pleasant flight could not calm my apprehension about the long journey ahead. Reinstated in early 2017, the connection between Heathrow and Santiago was for the first time scheduled as a direct flight of 14hrs and 35mins and approximately 7,240 miles (11,652km) in length. This is currently the longest scheduled…
