How to chase the northern lights from above

Chasing the northern lights is a dream for many travellers; and now it can be done aboard a charter plane above the Yukon

In the only experience of its kind available in North America, winter visitors to Canada’s north-western Yukon Territory can view the northern lights from thousands of metres in the air aboard a chartered Boeing 737 to the Arctic Circle.

Once the flight is airborne, the pilot will follow a custom flight path to optimise aurora viewing potential, with window seats guaranteed for every guest. 

This Aurora360 Arctic Discovery experience, offered by Northern Lights Resort & Spa, is included in a five-night luxury adventure, including curated excursions through the Southern Lakes region, Kluane National Park, Yukon Wildlife Preserve and Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs.

Guests will stay at the Northern Lights Resort & Spa and the new Hyatt Place Whitehorse - the Yukon capital - where they will enjoy gourmet meals and nightly guided northern lights viewing with professional photography included. 

The experience includes a guided Southern Lakes tour featuring Emerald Lake, Carcross Desert, gold panning and a wildlife museum visit.

This exclusive tour is available in October 2026. 

* Air Canada offers daily direct flights to Vancouver from Sydney and Brisbane. Direct flights from Sydney to Vancouver are also available on Qantas. Internal flights to Whitehorse and Dawson City are available on Air North and Air Canada. Additionally, travellers now have the ability to combine WestJet and Air North on a single ticket or itinerary, offering seamless baggage transfer and convenience across Air North’s network and more than 100 WestJet destinations.

See travelyukon.com

Cruise line leaves passengers stranded with 24 hours' notice

You are just 24 hours away from departing on a short cruise for a long weekend when an email lands.

Sorry. Your cruise is cancelled.

That is what happened to 1800 passengers when P&O Cruises UK cancelled a three-day cruise onboard the Aurora this week: giving booked guests just a day’s notice.

The cruise line said the cancellation of Aurora’s three-day cruise to Zeebrugge was due to a scheduled maintenance delay in dry dock.

The cruise scheduled to depart from Southampton on Monday was cancelled on Easter Sunday.

Guests were unable to speak to the line’s customer services due to the contact centre being closed on Easter Sunday. That's service for you. 

And tough luck if you'd spent big bucks travelling to Southampton. .

“Following a delay to Aurora’s refit, we need to cancel Aurora’s cruise from Southampton to Zeebrugge,” the email said.

P&O Cruises said it will issue full refunds and offer a 20% future cruise credit. No mention of reimbursing for costs already incurred.

“We appreciate how disappointing this is for our guests who were booked to travel," a P&O Cruises spokesperson said, news hub Travel Mole reported.

The ship was in Rotterdam after scheduled refit and maintenance work ran over time.

The Aurora did welcome guests back onboard on Thursday and is now on a 12-night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords.