20 hours, six pilots and an ice runway: On board a record-breaking flight from Antarctica to Norway

"Seeing something that huge landing on the ice runway was quite majestic and unreal," says chef Karin Jansdotter. "A big snowy cloud swirled up after the wheels hit the ice and I thought to myself, 'that thing there is finally bringing me home.'"

The 35-year-old Swede is one of 20 people who took the flight from Antarctica to Oslo, Norway, on February 26 after they finished their contracts at Troll, the Norwegian Antarctic research base.

It was the biggest commercial plane ever to land in Antarctica, with a Boeing 767 operated by Icelandair touching down on a smooth blue ice runway.

The journey back to Norway took 20 hours in total with a short refuelling stop in Cape Town, South Africa. Jansdotter then flew on to Sweden where she is currently quarantining at her family home.

Due to Covid-19 making logistics a little more difficult, Jansdotter’s year-long contract as a chef at Troll overran and she spent 469 days living on the Great White Continent after arriving on November 16, 2019.

She boarded the Icelandair flight with 20 of her colleagues who had spent the summer season at Troll and six people remained on the base to keep things in check through the harsh winter season.

Recalling her epic plane journey, Jansdotter says: "We waved goodbye to the winter team from the top of the plane's staircase as we boarded. They won’t see anyone else until November when a smaller plane arrives with supplies."

Icelandair said the flight involved a lot of planning due to the unique conditions, and there were six pilots, 13 crew members and one engineer on board.

"You could tell that all of the flight team were very stoked to be in Antarctica and when the plane landed they did a brief dance on the ice and waved their Icelandic flag," Jansdotter reveals.

She said the flight back home was extremely comfortable and she and two colleagues got the first rows after business class all to themselves. Some of the most memorable parts of the journey included the breathtaking views of Antarctica and a plate of fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Fresh fruit and vegetables ran out last year at Troll and Jansdotter had to make do with tinned, dry and frozen produce, which was stored in large lockers.

"I had said earlier in the season that I really miss fresh strawberries and there it was," she says. "I think my boss had a word with the flight crew before they took off from Iceland.

"I also got a glass of champagne along with my colleagues Arthur and Aleksander who broke the record of staying the longest on Troll. We cheered and celebrated together on the way home."

While they were working at Troll, the team were sheltered from the world as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded.

"It was so surreal, unbelievable to watch and read the news and being so far away from it all," Jansdotter says. "Being 1 of 1,000 residents in Antarctica watching the whole thing unfold from the outside. I felt that there was little I could do from the base. I felt helpless and I stopped reading the news.

"We didn’t feel the impact of Covid-19 on the base as we didn’t have the virus. Life just played out like normal. We were very glad to live in our little bubble, our Antarctic universe."

The team at Troll knew that their time there would eventually come to an end, and their flight details finally came through after the Norwegian Polar Institute crafted an appropriate evacuation plan.

Before getting home, Jansdotter was nervous about finding a "different kind reality" with social distancing, mask-wearing and limited movement all part of the new norm.

But she found just getting back to civilization a bigger shock than she anticipated.

She muses: "When we flew into Cape Town it was late evening and I could see the coast lighting up. I remember thinking there were so many people down there and too much light pollution.

"When they opened the door to the plane I stood there and felt the humidity hit my face and all the smells of smoke and the city. It certainly was a shock to the system after living in subzero temperatures for so long."

On her return to Sweden, Jansdotter had a Covid-19 test and is currently in quarantine as she awaits the results.

She says nothing beats being back with her parents and she has been enjoying being by the fire and cuddling her cat. One of her first meals back was some traditional Swedish pickled herring, washed down with some of her father’s home-brewed beer.

Although Jansdotter’s flight was extraordinary, it wasn’t the first time Icelandair had operated a flight to Antarctica.

In 2015, the company flew a smaller 757 to the Union Glacier camp carrying intrepid tourists.

According to a statement from expedition support company Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE), which operates the Union Glacier camp, the flight was done to prove that commercial passenger planes could land on ice-packed runways.