Air Charter Service Takes Almost 100 Eclipse Chasers to Spain in Search of Totality
Image credit: Air Charter Service
For a moment, it seemed the entire internet was looking up. The solar eclipse captured the collective imagination, filling social feeds with crescent suns, darkened skies and increasingly elaborate plans to witness the spectacle at its most dramatic. For some, however, watching from Britain was never going to be enough.
As the UK experienced a partial eclipse, with between 90 and 94 per cent of the sun obscured, almost 100 committed eclipse chasers boarded a specially chartered Embraer 190 from London Stansted, bound for Valladolid in Spain and the path of totality.
Arranged by aircraft charter specialist Air Charter Service (ACS), the flight was planned with rather more precision than your average weekend escape. With clear skies crucial to witnessing the phenomenon, ACS spent weeks monitoring forecasts and identifying prime observation points along the path of totality, which passed through Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
Three possible landing destinations were secured - Keflavík, Valladolid and Palma de Mallorca - allowing the final decision to be made according to the weather. By the Friday before the eclipse, Valladolid offered the clearest outlook, and the decision proved a good one.
Passengers were rewarded with spectacular views as the moon passed directly across the sun, plunging the landscape into the extraordinary darkness that makes totality such a sought-after experience. They were joined by thousands of Spanish spectators, witnessing the first total solar eclipse visible in Spain since 1905.
Eclipse-chasing is something ACS knows well. The company has previously arranged charter flights for astronomy enthusiasts and photographers, including several during the 2024 eclipse across North America. One flight took passengers to Niagara Falls, while another transported an entire wedding party to Ohio so they could combine the celestial event with their celebrations. For this eclipse, ACS also arranged private jet journeys into Zaragoza and Palma for clients travelling from as far afield as the US.
And already, the next great celestial escape is taking shape. On 2 August 2027, a total solar eclipse will cross southern Europe and North Africa, with totality lasting up to six and a half minutes. With hotels along the route already filling up, a chartered aircraft may prove the most effortless way to chase the perfect view.
For those who prefer their bucket-list moments to come with a boarding pass, the countdown has begun.
