Christchurch helicopter pilot Andrew Reid has flown a wide variety of missions, but says none compares to landing on an iceberg.

As a one-off trip for a former business colleague, Mr Reid flew five passengers from Christchurch and Auckland to Dunedin on Saturday to view the flotilla of icebergs currently off the Otago Peninsula.

Operations manager for Christchurch Helicopters, Mr Reid described the experience as "incredible...absolutely amazing".

After landing on one of the smaller bergs, Mr Reid and his party noticed a large white shape looming on the horizon and flew for half an hour to reach an iceberg about 1km long, some 200km south of the Otago Peninsula.

"I've been flying on and off since I was 18 and I've gone a huge variety of work, including filming for Lord of the Rings and the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe," Mr Reid told NZPA today.

"But this would have to be right up there in terms of a pretty cool thing to do."

His passengers had screwed screws into the soles of their boots, fashioning makeshift crampons to give them traction on the ice.

"It's like being on a mirror," Mr Reid said.

On the way south the party stopped at a tearooms at Moeraki and bought New Zealand flags and a couple of souvenir emperor penguins as props for photographs on the ice.

While his passengers briefly explored the giant iceberg, Mr Reid kept the helicopter running at full revolutions in case a hasty departure was required. The bergs were creaking and groaning under stress.

Mr Reid said an Otago helicopter company was running commercial trips to the icebergs for about $500 a seat. But operating similar tours from Christchurch would be uneconomic.

"It was a really, really incredible experience, absolutely amazing," he said.

"I've always wanted to go to Antarctica but I never got the chance. Happily enough, Antarctica came to me."

- NZPA

By Cullen Smith