Airlines schedule dedicated flights for Wednesday's total solar eclipse

Several European airlines and charter operators are running dedicated flights Wednesday so passengers and researchers can watch the total solar eclipse from high altitude, turning the rare astronomical event into a premium aerial experience.

Spanish carrier Iberia scheduled a dedicated observational flight, operating as IB1473, departing from and returning to Madrid-Barajas Airport.

Utilizing an Airbus A321XLR, the flight was routed over the province of Palencia at an altitude of approximately 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) to allow researchers from the Shelios project and passengers to observe the eclipse above potential low-level cloud cover. The flight number was chosen as a reference to the birth year of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

In Belgium, Brussels Airlines has chartered an Airbus A320 in partnership with the Urania public observatory and local universities. The short flight heads toward western France so passengers can observe a deep partial eclipse.

UK-based Air Charter Service is operating a same-day return flight from London Stansted, with the destination to be selected from Valladolid, the Balearic Islands or Keflavik based on weather forecasts. The company is charging £899 per seat and says the fare includes baggage for telescopic equipment, meals and transfers to an approved viewing area.

Seats on several of these flights were sold out.

Wednesday's total solar eclipse will sweep across the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, northern Spain and a small corner of northeastern Portugal, marking the first total eclipse visible from mainland Europe since 1999. A wider partial eclipse will be visible across the northern United States, most of Canada, much of Europe and northwestern Africa.

NASA plans to livestream the event starting at 1.15 pm EDT, featuring views of totality from cameras along the eclipse path and commentary from scientists. The European Space Agency has also been tracking the eclipse's path across the continent, noting Spain will have the largest area of totality in Europe.