Originally Posted by
Ex747
The issue with flying over Antarctica is communications. There is no satellite coverage below about 80S
Exactly as Red Jet said. Iridium works just fine down there.
Originally Posted by
Ex747
HF has similar issues - since the land based antennas in NZ and SA all point north /east/west not south.
And HF to BN at 75S is no more or less reliable than the middle of the Indian Ocean (ie hit and miss, "readability 1" then some adjustment and suddenly "readability 4").
Originally Posted by
Ex747
McMurdo isn't set up to handle routine airline communications.
And McMurdo can talk quite happily to ML CTR.