Icelandair offers four-person trip to 2196 total solar eclipse

Icelandair is offering one winner a trip for four to Iceland to see the total solar eclipse on June 26, 2196, mbl.is reported. About 35,000 people registered within the first 24 hours.

The airline announced the competition on social media on Tuesday and provided a website for entries.

“This week’s solar eclipse may pass you by. No worries. We want to offer you the opportunity to see the next one, on June 26, 2196. By aircraft or capsule, whatever is available at the time, we will get you there,” Icelandair said in a Facebook post.

Gísli Brynjólfsson, Icelandair’s marketing manager, said there was nothing preventing the trip from taking place, apart from the possibility that the winner might lose the gift certificate.

Icelandair aircraft technicians have made the certificate from aluminium, with the three sections designed to form a puzzle. The winner will receive one section, another is intended for the Aviation Museum of Iceland in Akureyri, and the third will remain in storage with the airline.

Icelandair also plans to invite the winner to Iceland in September to present the certificate and take them to the location where the eclipse will be visible in 2196.

The winner will be drawn on August 19. Most applicants are believed to be from the United States, as the campaign is aimed at international markets.

“This has probably never been done before, giving away a trip 170 years into the future,” Gísli said, describing the campaign as an unusual way to attract attention during the current solar eclipse interest in Iceland and abroad.