Icy landing for Antarctica Airbus

A passenger jet has touched down on the ice in Australia's Antarctic territory.The historic landing on the new "blue ice" runway paves the way for the first passenger flights to the frozen region.But trips on the Airbus A319 to the Wilkins Runway will be for scientists and research staff only, with no plans to open the airlink to tourists.Charlton Clark, manager of the Australian Antarctic Airlink project, said: "The airlink has been set up to support the Australian government's efforts in Antarctica and that's our aim at the moment."And at this stage, there's no infrastructure or support mechanisms in place for any tourism operations at Wilkins runway or Casey Station."The runway is 2.5 miles long, 700 metres thick and moves about 12 metres southwest a year because of glacial drift.The plane managed to pull up within 1,000 metres, despite the lack of grip on the slippery surface.The runway was named after the adventurer and aviator Sir Hubert Wilkins, who made the first flight in Antarctica 79 years ago.Scientists and specialists working at Australia's Antarctic field stations, who previously had to spend weeks voyaging to and from the ice by sea, are expected to start flying within a week.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

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ITN | December 13, 2007

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