tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204062799587864037.post7602961851488202952..comments2023-03-23T05:51:13.248-07:00Comments on Destination 7 Continents: Welcome to Union Glacier on VimeoBarry Realhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050688123145370765noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204062799587864037.post-65880482868120575952015-12-09T10:28:15.481-08:002015-12-09T10:28:15.481-08:00In this age of modern air travel, it is relatively...In this age of modern air travel, it is relatively easy for anyone with the means to book a flight to almost any corner of the Earth.<br />Unless that corner is Antarctica, a place where you cannot simply pave a runway and start landing planes.<br />In Antarctic locations such as Union Glacier, the runway is blue ice: dense, intensely blue glacier ice formed when snow falls onto glaciers, gets compacted and recrystallizes. This is generally a place for cargo and military jets, such as the Russian Ilyushin IL-76.<br />But commercial jets are making progress — and the Icelandic airline Loftleidir landed the first Boeing 757 on the blue ice runway at Union Glacier on Thursday.<br /><br />BY JESSICA PLAUTZ <br />NOV 27, 2015<br />Barry Realhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01050688123145370765noreply@blogger.com