Several companies operate scenic flights over Aoraki / Mount Cook and Tasman Glacier. Flights by both helicopter and fixed wing places offer glacier and mountain landings.
These are expensive excursions, but they do offer some incredible photo opportunities.
The Helicopter Line has flights departing from Glentanner Park, about a 15-minute drive from Mount Cook Village. These flights include a 20-minute flight with views of mountains and glaciers ($245), a 35-minute flight with breathtaking views of Aoraki/Mount Cook ($375), a 40-minute flight past the face of Tasman Glacier to the Hochstetter Icefall taking in views of the eastern face of Aoraki/Mount Cook and the upper Tasman Glacier ($460) and a 50-minute flight over the national park taking in the entire length of the Tasman Glacier and Aoraki/Mount Cook as well as Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on the West Coast ($640). These helicopter flights include snow landings where you can experience spectacular views only accessible by helicopter.
Air Safaris also operate from Glentanner Park. The 50-minute Grand Traverse flight uses fixed-wing aircraft (all passengers get a window seat) that takes in the braided river systems of the Mackenzie Basin, Aoraki/Mount Cook and Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers in Westland Tai Poutini National Park. This flight costs $405, but doesn’t include a snow landing.
Mount Cook Ski Planes operate from Mount Cook Airport, around a five-minute drive south of Mount Cook Village. They have a good choice of scenic flights with a choice of helicopter or ski plane, and all but two of the flights feature snow landings.
Flights that include a snow landing include a short 25-minute flight with views of Aoraki/Mount Cook ($299); a 35-minute flight over Tasman Glacier, Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman ($339); a 45-minute flight with views of the icebergs in Tasman Terminal Lake, Tasman Glacier, Hochstetter Icefall and of course, Mount Cook and Mount Tasman ($369); a 45-minute flight over the Hochstetter Icefall, the east face of Aoraki/Mount Cook and the full length of Tasman Glacier ($449) and a 55-minute flight that takes in Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park as well as Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on the West Coast ($589).
The flights that do not feature a snow landing include a short 10-minute flight taking in Tasman Glacier, the Hochstetter Icefall and the eastern face of Aoraki/Mount Cook ($99) and a 30-minute around Mount Cook taking in Tasman Glacier and Hochstetter Icefall and also including Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on the West Coast ($199).