Helicopter firms going for gold in 2012

When London was awarded the 2012 Olympics seven years ago, many of the UK's helicopter charter providers saw it as their opportunity to go for gold next summer, ferrying wealthy clients and VIPs from business airports around the capital to the Olympic venues. Instead, inevitable security concerns mean operators face a month of disruption, thanks to a virtual outright ban on visual flight rules [VFR] flights over much of London, with a wider area stretching beyond the city's four main airports, where flights will be subject to tight rules.

"When we won the games, we expected it to be a fantastic opportunity," says Michael Hampton, managing director of Capital Air Services, which operates four client-owned Eurocopters, based at Oxford airport.

"We thought they'd set up a landing site close to the stadium, perhaps at London City Airport [15min by road from the venue], allowing us to scoop up people and fly them into the events. It is not going to be the bumper feast at the Olympics that we originally hoped it would be," he added.

© Rex Features The Olympic stadium is near completion

Philip Amadeus, owner and chief pilot at Redhill, Surrey-based AgustaWestland AW109 Power operator RotorMotion, agrees. "I don't want to be a doomsayer, but I am quite worried. I saw the Olympics as a great opportunity for business, but have come away feeling very concerned." Amadeus believes the process of filing detailed flight plans will "overload the system". Also, the whole point of hiring helicopters is for the flexibility and speed they offer to VIP clients, he says. "A lot of our business is very short-notice."

The restrictions - which cover all private flights and not just rotorcraft - will be policed by National Air Traffic Services, working under rules set by the Civil Aviation Authority on the advice of the government.

The prohibited zone (see map) stretches in an approximate rectangle from west of Heathrow to just east of London City, and includes the London Heliport at Battersea, as well as small airfields at Denham, Fairoaks and White Waltham. The heliport and these airfields will be provided with exemptions, allowing arrivals and ­departures under both instrument flight rules [IFR] and VFR. IFR flights into the big airports will not be affected. Operators using the restricted zone - covering a swathe of southeast England from Cambridgeshire to the South Downs and the Thames Estuary to Reading - between 14 July and 15 August, must gain approval for flight plans filed 24h in advance.

Although restrictions for the Paralympic games - which take place over the following four weeks - have been eased, the government has rejected proposals from helicopter ­operators to allow registered aircraft commanded by pilots who have been security-screened to fly freely. This is something Hampton feels discriminates against local, experienced operators who are well known to the authorities. However, not all operators are so downbeat. Christopher Forrest, operations director of fixed-wing and helicopter operator PremiAir - which manages the London Heliport - says he is hopeful a typically British compromise will be worked out over the next few months.

This will allow regular operators to engage in business without too many hold-ups. "At the start I was very concerned because the heliport is in the prohibited area, but now I am very optimistic," he says. "Security has been tight before - for the Royal Wedding and the visit of President Obama. We found a way of working around it."

Jeremy James, secretary of the Helicopter Club of Great Britain, is also sanguine about how the industry will cope. "When the proposals were announced in March, there was a lot of shock horror," he recalls. "We were looking at a complete shutdown of everything, including flight training. Nobody even knew who to approach." Now, he says, after a lot of lobbying from the general aviation industry and several meetings with the aviation minister, the regulations ­appear more sensible.

With provision for flights into and out of London's only heliport at Battersea, the reduction of the restricted period to one month and approval for pre-cleared operations, the regime is actually more flexible than other games, such as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, says James. "We're not so happy about the clunky submitting flight plans 2h in advance, but we'll have to learn to live with it."

Source: Flight International