Kenn Borek Air: The Airline No Tourist Books but Every Polar Pilot Knows

History and positioning

Founded in Calgary in 1970, Kenn Borek Air is not a passenger carrier in the traditional sense: it specializes in polar operations in the Arctic and Antarctica, serving international scientific research programs such as the British Antarctic Survey and the US Antarctic Program. It does not sell airline tickets comparable to those of a scheduled carrier: flights are arranged under contract with research institutes or government agencies, often for entire operating seasons.

The fleet

The fleet includes the famous Basler BT-67 — DC-3s converted to turboprop — and De Havilland Twin Otters, of which the company is among the largest operators in the world: aircraft that are rare outside this context and chosen precisely for their ability to operate from extreme polar airstrips, often just packed snow.

Routes and network

The main activity is logistical support to polar scientific bases, with seasonal rotations that follow the austral summer in Antarctica and the boreal summer in the Arctic, including medical evacuations in extreme conditions that have made the company well known in specialized aviation circles, such as the famous South Pole rescue of 2001.

What passengers say

There are no reviews comparable to those of a passenger carrier, since these are specialized charters aimed at agencies and institutes, not the general public: the company's reputation is measured instead within the polar aviation community, where it is a name of reference.

• A unique operational capability on extreme polar airstrips, where very few other operators in the world can step in.
• Long experience built up with the Basler BT-67s, and one of the largest Twin Otter fleets in the world.

• No standard online booking, with flights arranged under contract.
• Costs calculated per mission, not per individual ticket, and hard to estimate in advance.

Kenn Borek Air is not designed for the ordinary traveler: it is a reference for polar scientific programs and emergency operations in the Arctic and Antarctica. Anyone looking into this company almost always does so for professional or research reasons, not to plan a holiday, and it is good to know that before searching for a ticket that simply does not exist in the usual way.