There are reports that Copterline considers shutting down service.
They are one of the few airlines which operates scheduled helicopters.
In August, their Sikorsky 76 copter fell to the sea a few minutes after takeoff. Both crew and all 12 passengers perished. The services were shut down for the day of crash and I think the next day, and also for weekends since. Now they operate 1 copter and have to allow downtime for maintenance, which is why they have not flown on weekends.
They announced that they were looking for a replacement helicopter. But they do not have it yet. And the problem is that the cause of crash is unknown nearly 3 months after crash.
From the black box, it turned out that the copter started spinning and falling – 13 turns in 37 seconds before hitting water. The copter hit water at a relatively slow speed, but for some reason the pilots did not or could not deploy the airbags, so the copter sank promptly in about 45 m deep water. The captain and all passengers were found inside the copter, drowned – not injured by impact. The copilot had somehow got out – and was found from the bottom a few tens of metres from wreck.
But there is no idea why the copter crashed in the first place. Rather few people buy tickets, and Copterline is losing money.
There are other options. Copterline is planning to try returning some weekend services. Also they wait for January for further decisions.
For in January, the chances of freezing and ice would cause the fast catamaran ships to shut down during the winter, until April or May depending on weather. This means the shortest ground travel times from port to port grow from 1h 40 min – 1h 50 min to 3h – 3 h 30 min, possibly more if the ice gets thick. As the copter travel time stays at 18 minutes, this is a high season for Copterline.
So, what are the prospects? Are copters a safe way of travel and where else do they run scheduled services?
By: gingerheid - 12th December 2005 at 20:12
By: mc26 - 12th December 2005 at 10:18
Helisureste operate Malaga to Ceuta and Malta to Gozo. I’ve used the Ceuta service and it really is a superb flight over the straights of Gibraltar.
By: chornedsnorkack - 12th December 2005 at 09:53
Actually, this thread overlooks the fact that helicopters have often provided an integral element of aviation schedules across Europe. Even in England, there was a while back a LGW – LHR helicopter service.
But it has shut down. Why?
Sometimes these service may not appear within Amadeus or Sabre, or in the OAG flight guide, but they are nonetheless regular sceduled services.
And, even today, none of the domestic services within the Faroe Islands are fixed-wing… all are helicopters. even including Europe’s best value flight, for details of which see here.
Hope this is of interest.
Yes, it really is interesting.
Are there any other currently scheduled services, besides the Tallinn-Helsinki line and the Faroes?
By: hiddeneurope - 9th December 2005 at 21:21
Helicopters on Scheduled Services in Europe
Actually, this thread overlooks the fact that helicopters have often provided an integral element of aviation schedules across Europe. Even in England, there was a while back a LGW – LHR helicopter service. Sometimes these service may not appear within Amadeus or Sabre, or in the OAG flight guide, but they are nonetheless regular sceduled services.
And, even today, none of the domestic services within the Faroe Islands are fixed-wing… all are helicopters. even including Europe’s best value flight, for details of which see here.
Hope this is of interest.
By: chornedsnorkack - 9th December 2005 at 16:02
Further developments
The Copterline has considered continuing service at a lower frequency. But recently they say the popularity of service has increased – they used to have 1200 passengers per week before crash, around 300 after crash, but now the number is over 500 and increasing. They need 1000 to stop bearing losses, though.
A longer term threat is new fast, big and iceproof ships ordered by Tallink (for Spring 2007) and Viking Line (Spring 2008).
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November 8, 2005 at 5:12 pm