Eclipse flights: Airlines offer front-row seats to solar spectacle
Airlines are preparing special flights for Wednesday’s total solar eclipse, giving passengers and scientists the chance to watch one of 2026’s biggest astronomical events from above the clouds.
The total solar eclipse on 12 August will be visible across parts of Europe and the North Atlantic. The path of totality crosses Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and a small area of northeastern Portugal. At the same time, other parts of Europe will experience a partial eclipse, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
Spain will have the largest area of totality in Europe, with the eclipse crossing the country from west to east before continuing across the Balearic Islands.
But some observers will not have to worry about finding a cloud-free viewing spot on the ground.
Iberia and Brussels Airlines have confirmed dedicated eclipse flights, while Belgian aviation company ASL Group has organised another observation flight from Liège.
A separate charter flight from London Stansted will take passengers directly to whichever one of three eclipse-viewing regions has the best weather.
Iberia is sending an A321XLR into the path of totality
Perhaps the most unusual airline operation comes from Iberia.
The Spanish flag carrier will operate flight IB1473 from Madrid on 12 August using an Airbus A321XLR. The flight number is a reference to 1473, the year astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born.
Rather than flying between two cities, the aircraft will leave Madrid, position itself to observe the eclipse and return to Madrid.
According to Iberia’s announcement reported by Cinco Días, the flight has been specifically designed to maximise viewing conditions over the province of Palencia at an altitude of more than 10,000 metres.
The aircraft will carry scientists from the Shelios Project, led by astronomer and Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias researcher Miquel Serra-Ricart.
The researchers will use the flight to observe the Sun from an altitude where clouds and other atmospheric effects are less of an obstacle.
Iberia also plans to livestream the eclipse through its social media channels using the Starlink high-speed connectivity it is progressively introducing across its fleet.
Unlike a conventional sightseeing flight, IB1473 has a significant scientific component and provides a spectacular vantage point from which to observe totality. The airline’s decision to live stream the eclipse flight makes the unique experience available to everyone on the ground.
Brussels Airlines is offering 100 seats
Brussels Airlines is taking a different approach by carrying paying eclipse watchers.
The Lufthansa Group carrier will operate the flight in coordination with Urania Public Observatory, the University of Antwerp and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, on an Airbus A320 departing from Brussels on Wednesday.
The flight is fully booked, though capacity was limited to 100 passengers with aisle seats kept empty to give passengers better access to the windows.
Tickets were priced at €299 for a programme lasting about four hours, including roughly two hours in the air.
The Brussels Airlines aircraft is expected to fly towards western France, where passengers will be able to see a deep partial eclipse rather than totality.
Belgian VIP eclipse flight will leave Liège
Demand has also prompted a Belgian private charter eclipse-observation flight.
Urania and ASL Group have organised the flight, which will depart from Liège Airport on 12 August.
The aircraft is an Embraer ERJ135 operated by ACE, part of ASL Group, according to details of the Liège eclipse flight on the Urania website. The smaller regional jet’s maximum occupancy was also limited to 30 seats for this flight.
The altitude should allow observers to get above much of the cloud that could interfere with ground-based observations.
Bookings cost €799 per person and include some nice perks:
- Information session at Urania Public Observatory in Hove with Planetarium show
- Two-hour eclipse flight to Nantes (France) by private jet
- Eclipse glasses
- Guidance by a Urania guide during the flight
- Open bar service and snacks during the flight
The flight is already fully booked.
It means Belgium will have at least two dedicated eclipse observation flights operating on Wednesday.
An £899 eclipse charter is leaving London Stansted
UK passengers have another option, although this flight is structured differently.
Air Charter Service has marketed a £899-per-person same-day eclipse charter departing London Stansted on 12 August.
Rather than observing the eclipse entirely from the aircraft, the charter is designed to transport passengers to one of three potential viewing areas: Valladolid or the Balearic Islands in Spain, or Keflavík in Iceland.
The destination will be selected based on expected weather conditions, giving passengers a better chance of seeing totality.
Air Charter Service describes the eclipse flights as:
- Same-day return flight with guaranteed window or aisle seating to the best-viewing destination, with the advantage that no hotel booking is required.
- Baggage included in the fare and telescopic equipment is permitted, subject to size and dimensions.
- The carrier will provide a complimentary hot meal, soft drinks, beer, and wine during the flight.
Air Charter Services also includes round-trip bus transfers “from the destination airport to a designated and approved viewing area set up by local authorities” in the price of the ticket.
Airlines have also added capacity to eclipse destinations
The special flights represent only a tiny part of the aviation activity generated by the eclipse.
Airlines have spent months promoting services to Iceland and northern Spain to travellers hoping to see totality.
Alaska Airlines, for example, has pitched the eclipse in promoting its new nonstop Seattle-Reykjavík service, which launched in May 2026. The airline identified Iceland’s position in the path of totality as one reason for travellers to use the new route.
Icelandair has also been actively promoting Iceland as an eclipse destination, with information for travellers planning trips around the event available through its 2026 solar eclipse guide.
easyJet, meanwhile, identified northern Spain, Mallorca, Ibiza and Iceland among destinations benefiting from growing interest in what it calls “dark sky tourism.” The airline included the 2026 eclipse among its travel trends for 2026.
Eclipse sends flight bookings soaring
The aviation impact of the eclipse extends far beyond the handful of specially organised observation flights. The scale of eclipse tourism is clearer in airline booking data.
Amadeus Air Visitors data shows flight bookings for arrivals at airports along the eclipse path between 7 and 12 August are 25% higher than during the equivalent period in 2025.
The increase becomes even more pronounced immediately before the eclipse. Flight bookings for arrivals on 10 August were 39% higher year-on-year, according to Amadeus Travel Intelligence data on eclipse travel to Spain and Iceland.
The destinations with the most significant growth in bookings when compared to 2025 were:
- Bilbao (+366%)
- Asturias (+292%)
- Valencia (+137%).
Travellers are flying on scheduled airline services to stand beneath the path of totality, particularly heading to Spain and Iceland. Many sky watchers are taking long-haul flights to catch the stellar event, with the highest demand originating from the US, Japan, Argentina and Canada.
NASA is chasing the eclipse from 50,000 feet
Commercial aviation will not have the sky to itself.
NASA is also conducting an airborne eclipse observation mission using one of its WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft.
The research aircraft provides scientists with another advantage over observers on the ground: the ability to fly with the Moon’s shadow, potentially extending the time available for observations.
For the airline passengers flying below the research aircraft, however, the attraction is considerably simpler: seeing the Sun disappear without having to worry quite so much about Wednesday’s weather.
