In 2024, Icelandic travel company The North will debut Arctic Horizons, a three-week voyage that will stop at six different destinations in the Arctic.
“For this carefully curated itinerary, we hand-selected the destinations that have most inspired us during our many journeys into the high latitudes and the Arctic,” says Jón Olafur Magnussen, The North’s co-founder, in an interview with Travel + Leisure. Magnussen, an avid Arctic adventurer, founded the business with his wife, Johanna Eyjolfsdottir; the couple also operates the travel company HL Adventure.
The journey starts and ends in Reykjavik, Iceland, and includes stops in Ilulissat, Greenland, Sonora, Canada, Anchorage, Alaska, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and Alta, Norway. Guests will spend several days in luxury hotels at each stop, experiencing the highlights of the location.
This includes observing wildlife such as polar bears, eagles and humpback whales, as well as learning about the indigenous culture in the region. A celebratory champagne toast aboard the private jet flying over the North Pole is also included in the itinerary.
“To experience the sheer number of unique sights that the Arctic offers, there is no one destination that includes all the iconic highlights of these northern landscapes and habitats,” Magnussen says. “By private jet, we can cover huge distances with the new eco-technology and efficiency of modern fuels.”
Guests will be transported in a privately chartered Icelandair Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a maximum capacity of 50 passengers in lie-flat seats. The trip will be catered by private chefs.
“By expanding one’s horizon of experience to these outer edges of our world, we hope guests will take away a profound sense of awe, wonder, and responsibility, and the feeling that belonging in the world enables us to care for it with stewardship and diligence,” Magnussen says. “We hope that our guests will share their new knowledge and experiences with their friends and family members when they return home.”
Magnussen plans to expand The North’s offerings to include destinations throughout northern Asia, including Mongolia, as well as routes on smaller private jets with smaller groups to destinations that would not be accessible on a larger jet.
“Together, we will experience this world of unimaginable space and beauty, where nature helps us to understand the fragility of the entire biosphere and its inhabitants, and perhaps a pathway to a new way of thinking about our role and impact on its future,” Magnussen says.
The first Arctic Horizons private jet voyage will take place from July 16 to Aug. 4, 2024; prices start at $187,000 per person and can be booked at thenorth.is.