The London Heliport prepares for a strong summer.

Wednesday 18th June 2014

Royal Ascot, The Goodwood Festival of Speed, The Santander British Grand Prix and Farnborough Air Show are all contributing to what is set to be a record-breaking summer for the capital's London Heliport.  Overall, bookings at the city's only licensed heliport are 50% up since the start of calendar year 2014.

Bookings for Royal Ascot this week (17th-21st June) are expected to be ahead of last year, says London Heliport General Manager Simon Hutchins.  Gold Cup Day, when Derby winner Australia takes on Treve, ridden by Frankie Dettori for Al Shaqab Racing and defending champion Estimate, owned by the Queen, has so far attracted 24 movements on this day alone.   Expanding helicopter charter operator Castle Air confirms bookings are significantly up on last year and is close to being fully booked for the period from central London.  Starspeed has confirmed slots for its 16-seat Sikorsky S-92 helicopter on Ladies' Day, a type which is growing in popularity in the charter market, and now a regular visitor in and out of The London Heliport.

Also busy for the period is Capital Air Services, who offer a fully tailor-made and flexible helicopter charter service with helicopters positioned out of their London Oxford Airport base.  Capital will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in September with the acceptance of Europe's first new Sikorsky S-76"D" model available for charter from August.  Capital is reporting good take up for Royal Ascot, The British Grand Prix at Silverstone (3-6th July) and is heavily committed to the forthcoming Farnborough Air Show and The Ryder Cup in September with most of the flying scheduled to depart from The London Heliport.  Owing to an increase in its management and charter activities, Capital has also recently recruited several more pilots.

Goodwood Festival of Speed increasingly popular for helicopters

"The Goodwood Festival of Speed (26-29th June) is shaping up to be an increasingly social occasion for corporate helicopter use," notes Hutchins.  "We have taken a concentrated number of bookings from one large group which is flying out 60 guests, using 10 helicopters on the Saturday and we have healthy bookings on the Friday and Sunday too.  Bookings for Farnborough Air Show, where busy executives can beat the M3 travel in just 20 minutes, is filling up well too with 26 bookings already logged for the first Monday of the show - July 14th.  We tend to get extremely busy for the Farnborough Air Show and we advise corporates to book early in order to avoid disappointment," he advises.

It takes less than 35 minutes to fly from The London Heliport, located at Battersea, just south of Chelsea Harbour to Goodwood; 15 minutes to Ascot in Berkshire and 35 minutes to reach Silverstone. Passengers can escape the traffic and there is no more stylish way to experience the atmosphere of one of the season's most exciting sporting events.

Meanwhile, the management of The London Heliport is in dialogue with several interested parties about taking over the sponsorship and naming of one of London's most iconic sites, now that Barclays sponsorship has expired.

In related news, The London Heliport is pleased to announce that it is offering one landing at no charge to any buyer of a new or used helicopter from July 2014 until further notice.

About London Heliport.

London Heliport in Battersea, just south of Chelsea Harbour, is the only CAA approved heliport in the Capital with approval to handle 12,000 take-offs and landings per year.  It has been in operation since 1959, providing essential service to the business community and emergency services, such as the Air Ambulance (HEMS) and Police Air Support units.   Located on the River Thames between Battersea and Wandsworth bridges, the heliport caters for both business and leisure customers requiring fast access in and out of the City.

The London Heliport is wholly owned by the Reuben Brothers since acquisition at the end of February 2012.  Reuben Brothers' investment activities include private equity, real estate ownership and development. Businesses include London Oxford Airport, shopping centres, data centres, race courses, public houses, hotels, technology and media.

www.londonheliport.co.uk