Helijet

A Helijet S76 comes in for a landing at Vancouver Harbour.

A Helijet Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II landing on the Vancouver Harbour Helipad.

Helijet International is a helicopter airline and charter service based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Well known for its scheduled passenger helicopter airline services, it also operates a charter division (Helijet Charters) serving the film, television, aerial tour, industrial and general charter markets, as well as helicopter and jet air ambulance services. Its main base is Vancouver International Airport (YVR).^[1]

Sightseeing harbour and city tours and scheduled services to Victoria operate from the Vancouver Harbour Heliport located on the shores of Burrard Inlet, adjacent to Waterfront Station. Helijet is British Columbia's largest air medical service provider, operating rotary wing and fixed wing medevac aircraft including Learjets.^[2]

History

The airline was established in 1986 and started operations between Vancouver and Victoria in November 1986 with one Bell 412 helicopter and 14 staff members. It was formerly known as Helijet Airways. During the past 25 years of operation, Helijet has grown from one aircraft in scheduled service with 14 personnel carrying just 22,000 passengers into a diversified company with 15 aircraft and 150+ employees carrying over 100,000 passengers per year. The company has an excellent record of aviation safety.^{[citation needed]} With US Helicopter now defunct in the New York City area, Helijet is the only scheduled passenger helicopter airline service in North America.^[3]

In the past, Helijet provided scheduled passenger services with Sikorsky S-76A helicopters or Beechcraft 1900D turboprop fixed wing aircraft to Seattle-Boeing Field, Abbotsford International Airport, Langley Airport, Victoria International Airport and Campbell River Airport, all of which are still destinations accessible by Helijet Charters' services. Helijet has operated large, 19 passenger seat Sikorsky S-61 helicopters as well including in scheduled service between Vancouver and Victoria.

All scheduled passenger services between the company's heliports located in downtown Vancouver, B.C. and downtown Victoria, B.C. have been operated for many years with twin engine, Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capable Sikorsky S-76 helicopters flown by two (2) pilots. During the 2013 summer season, all scheduled service between Vancouver and Victoria was being operated with Bell 206L-3 LongRanger III turbine powered rotorcraft.^[4] However, with the advent of the 2013 fall season, Helijet is once again operating Sikorsky S-76 aircraft between Vancouver and Victoria.

Helijet International operates the Vancouver and Victoria Harbour Heliports under its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Heliport Services.

Destinations

^{[citation needed]} Helijet operates bases at the following heliports/airports in the Pacific Northwest:^[5]

• Vancouver International Airport (YVR) - Home base and corporate headquarters
• Vancouver Harbour, in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia (CXH)
• Victoria Harbour, in downtown Victoria, British Columbia (YWH)
• Prince Rupert/Seal Cove, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
• Sandspit Airport, in Sandspit, British Columbia

Helijet also operates helicopter services between Masset airport and numerous fishing lodges in the Haida Gwaii area during the BC fishing season. The fishing lodges have an operating helipad to facilitate this service, which includes passenger and cargo transfers.

Fleet

The Helijet fleet consists of the following rotorcraft and jet aircraft types (as of March 2013):

• 7 Sikorsky S-76A - C-GHJL, C-GHJP, C-GHJV, C-GHJW, C-FZAA
• 3 Sikorsky S-76C+ - C-GIHJ, C-GHHJ, C-GCHJ
• 3 Bell 206L-3 LongRanger III - C-GVIZ, C-GVIQ, C-GXHJ
• 2 Bombardier Learjet 31A - C-GHJJ, C-GHJU
• 1 Eurocopter AS350B2 AStar - C-GHJS

HeliJet operated the following fixed wing turboprop and helicopter types in the past:

• Beechcraft 1900D
• Bell 206L-1 LongRanger
• Bell 412
• Eurocopter AS-355F1 Twinstar
• Sikorsky S-61

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helijet International.

• Helijet