Some flights are just a means to an end. Others — a bush plane banking over the Serengeti, a turboprop dropping onto the tundra of Churchill — are the best part of the trip. A recent roundup highlighted four under-the-radar carriers where the journey genuinely competes with the destination.
First up is Air Excel, a Tanzanian regional airline founded in 1997 and based in Arusha, the country's safari capital at the foot of Mount Meru. It runs scheduled flights and private charters into the bush — Serengeti, Kilimanjaro — and out to the beaches of Zanzibar. Flying in a small aircraft over the Maasai Mara region is a safari in itself: from above you can pick out elephant herds, massed antelope and giraffes at the tops of acacia trees. The writer boarded one of its charters to a back-to-basics Entara camp in the Serengeti, complete with stargazing tents and, mercifully, no WiFi.
In Canada, Calm Air is the only airline serving Churchill, Manitoba — the so-called Polar Bear Capital of the World. It specialises in remote northern routes across Manitoba and Nunavut's Kivalliq region, much of which has no road access at all. The backstory fits: founders Arnold and Gail Morberg built a fishing camp on Black Lake in northern Saskatchewan in the 1950s, needed safe air transport for their guests, and got a charter licence by 1962. Churchill operations began in 1975. Practical warning: seats sell out fast, so book early — especially if you're chasing the northern lights.
Sichuan Airlines takes a lighter approach to branding: pandas, everywhere. Its A350-900 on the Los Angeles–Chengdu 'Panda Route' is painted with the bears outside, and the theme continues inside via headrests, pillows, cups and snacks — each illustration representing a real adopted panda. The route supports panda conservation through a partnership with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, including a baby female panda named 3U, nicknamed YouYou, who doubles as the airline's mascot. Founded in 1986 with a fleet of more than 180 aircraft, Sichuan is Western China's largest carrier but little known outside Asia; the LAX flight is the main way for American travellers to try it.
Finally, Tradewind offers the semiprivate flight experience without the private-jet price tag or the guilt. It sells by-the-seat tickets on small luxury aircraft — the Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna Citation CJ3 — on shuttle routes connecting Boston, New York and Palm Beach with summer spots like Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, plus Caribbean winter favourites St. Barth's and Anguilla. Skipping the main terminal and the TSA queue means you're halfway to relaxed before wheels up.
Who's this for? Travellers who think of flying as part of the holiday rather than an obstacle to it. If your ideal trip includes spotting polar bears, tracking migration from the air, hugging a panda-themed pillow or landing on an island without a single security line, these four carriers deserve a spot on your radar.
