Air Tours on a fixed-wing aircraft are a great way to view the active volcano and are often much less costly than the helicopters
(more info...)
 Best Fixed-Wing
Aircraft Tours and Flights in Maui |
 Volcano
Air - Fixed-Wing Aircraft |
| Interisland Airways - Fixed-Wing Air and Land Volcano Tour! |
| Best Helicopter
Tours and Rides in Maui |
| Go
to Helicopters Tours in Maui |
Maui Air Tours - Fixed-Wing Flights
Seventy-five percent of Maui is visible only from the air via fixed-wing aircraft tours and flights!
When I first came to Maui over 20 years ago I hiked and traveled just about every place possible.
When I took my first of many Maui air tours, I was in the air no more than 10 minutes before realizing I had no clue what the island really looked like. Isolated valleys, hidden waterfalls, secluded ridges, triple-canopy rainforests, and mountain summits. Some areas are so dense and rugged they are impossible to traverse on foot. Some species of animal and plant life are so isolated in their Maui habitat they exist only in their own little valley and nowhere else in the world.
If you haven't seen Maui by air tour, you haven't seen Maui.
With regard to photography, many Maui air tour companies equip their aircraft with special video recorders mounted in the nose and along the sides of the aircraft. Some even have camera lenses mounted in the cockpit. As the pilot flies along he directs the taping, selecting the camera offering the best view. The result: at the end of your Maui air tour you're presented with a video tape of your actual flight to take home and enjoy over and over.
Fixed-Wing
Aircraft Tours and Flights in Maui - Tour Options:
- KILAUEA VOLCANO TOUR - 2 1/4 hour air tour from Maui to the Big Island with 20 minutes over the active lava flows and Volcano National Park. Scenic Maui and Hawaii coastlines, waterfalls.
- BIG ISLAND VOLCANO TOUR FROM MAUI - Following departure from either Kahului of Kapalua, the flight will follow the north shore of Maui to Hana, (or weather permitting, over Haleakala!) and then across the Alenuihaha Channel to the north shore of the Big Island
- SUNSET VOLCANO TOUR - Same tour with later departure. Each tour is a different adventure with different sights to see, and about two hours long. (Some tours are flown in reverse of the above description and Volcano Air Tours does not guarantee seeing red lava flow)
Interisland Airways - offers a deluxe combination Volcano Air and Land Tour from Oahu and Maui on a private 30 passenger Bombardier Shorts aircraft specifically designed for aerial observations.
Volcano Air - is the company to choose if you're interested in seeing the incredible volcanic activity on the Big Island of Hawaii when departing from Maui. Since 1993, Volcano Air has been flying daily air tours over one of the most dramatic geologic events on the planet and has a perfect safety record. Kiluaea Volcano has been in continuous eruption for over two decades. These flights are very much in demand and often book days and sometimes weeks in advance.
Air Tours and Fixed Wing Rides in Maui - Options Below:
Interisland Airways - Interisland Airways offers a deluxe combination Volcano Air and Land Tour from Oahu and Maui and a flightseeing tour from Hilo, on a private 30 passenger Bombardier Shorts aircraft specifically designed for aerial observations. |  Interisland Airways Price Range: (From: $330.90 - To: $378.90) |
Volcano Air - Volcano Air is the company to choose if you’re interested in seeing the incredible volcanic activity on the Big Island of Hawaii when departing from Maui. Since 1993, Volcano Air has been flying daily air tours over one of the most dramatic geologic events on the planet. These flights are very much in demand and often book days in advance. |  Volcano Air Price Range: (From: $355.00 - To: $502.50) |
Helicopter Tours on Maui - View isolated valleys, hidden waterfalls, secluded ridges, triple-canopy rainforests, and mountain summits. Some areas are so dense and rugged they are impossible to traverse on foot. Some species of animal and plant life are so isolated in their Maui habitat they exist only in their own little valley and nowhere else in the world. Maui's most popular helicopter tours are probably the 45 minute trips the include a visit to both the crater of Haleakala and Hana but some of the most comprehensive helicopter tours include the full island of Maui and those that fly over Maui's West Maui Mountains and then over Molokai's fantastic northern coastline and Father Damien's leper colony. |  Helicopter Tours on Maui Price Range: (From: $100.00 - To: $655.00) |
This page contains information about: maui air tours, maui air flights, maui fixed wing, maui air flight, maui air tour, maui volcano air tour.
Hearing Impaired - Read the full transcript for this page's audio narrative.
Air Tours (Fixed-Wing) on Maui - When people think of "Air Tours" in Hawaii they generally think of helicopters, and rightly so, because the vast majority of sightseeing flights we have here are on helicopters. That being said however, I think that flights on fixed-wing aircraft are often very under-rated regarding both performance and value. It is certainly true that helicopters have the capability to "hover", which is not in the arsenal of capabilities available to fixed-wing aircraft. This may be a limiting factor, but it may not be as significant a characteristic as you might first imagine. I have flown on a significant number of fixed-wing air tours, as well as helicopters, and on both it certainly could be said that you end up getting the "lay of the land". The fixed-wing aircraft generally fly a bit higher than their hovering counterparts but your overall impression on either upon your return is that you've had a great view of the islands below. In fact I have taken quite a number of photos of island features from both types of aircraft and of many it can be said that it is literally impossible to determine the origin of the snapshot taken. Occasionally I can even suggest that the quality of the tour I have taken was even higher on the fixed wing than on certain helicopter flights. One in particular was on a flight that only took myself and my significant other on a private tour on which we were even allowed to suggest certain areas of the island that we wanted to see in greater detail and were obliged by the pilot. One other important piece of "fixed-wing" flights versus helicopter flights discussion is that the "fixed-wing" option is often considerably less expensive. All this being stated however, I think that if I had to make a choice of flying one or the other and money was not an object, I probably would choose the helicopter because there are certain places you simply cannot get into to view on a plane that you can on a helicopter. Viewing the islands from a plane, however, is not exactly the "weak sister" option to its helicopter cousin and certainly should be considered as a viable option, especially when price may be a concern.