Sightseeing Flights in Alberta

Alberta is one of the Canadian provinces where a sightseeing flight takes on a special dimension. Between the Rockies to the west and the wide plains stretching eastward, each flight offers a contrast of landscapes that is hard to find elsewhere in Canada. Whether by light airplane or helicopter, flying over Alberta for the first time remains a memorable experience.

Introductory Flights and Discovery Flights by Airplane

Taking the controls for the first time

An introductory flight by airplane is an opportunity to take the controls of a light aircraft for the duration of a flight supervised by a qualified instructor. In Alberta, several airfields offer this type of experience, especially around Calgary and Red Deer, two well-served cities with active flight schools.

Flying over Alberta during a discovery flight by airplane

A discovery flight by airplane does not require any previous experience. In Edmonton, for example, the provincial capital, operators offer air tours that make it possible to observe the city and its surroundings from several hundred meters above the ground. Toward Lethbridge, in the south of the province, discovery flights sometimes follow the Oldman River, a flight that often surprises those who imagine Alberta as being only flat.

Helicopter Sightseeing Flights in Alberta

Flying over the Rockies from Banff and Canmore

A helicopter sightseeing flight in the Alberta Rockies is a special kind of flight that is never forgotten. From Canmore, providers organize flights over glacial valleys and snow-covered peaks year-round. In Banff as well, several helicopter flight options are offered, often focused on the lakes and glaciers of the national park, landscapes that take on a completely different scale when seen from the sky.

Helicopter Flights Departing from Jasper

Farther north, Jasper offers helicopter sightseeing flights in the heart of the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, where pilots follow air corridors that run along the Columbia Icefield, one of the largest subpolar icefields in North America outside Arctic zones.

Why choose Alberta for a first flight

Alberta benefits from a high amount of sunshine for a Canadian province, which results in a higher number of favorable flying days than in neighboring British Columbia, which guarantees a better flight completion rate whether by touring airplane or helicopter. Weather conditions are more stable there, especially between May and September, the ideal period to book a sightseeing flight by airplane or helicopter in Alberta. The variety of landscapes, from plains to glaciers, makes each flight a different experience depending on the region chosen.