Heli Tours to add 16 helicopters to fleet

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

By the end of next year, 16 helicopters will be added to the fleet of aircraft of Heli Tours (Pvt) Limited, said Squadron Leader Rasanga de Zoysa, Officer in charge of the Charter Flights of Heli Tours (Pvt) Ltd. These helicopters brought for passenger transport will include fourteen MI17s with 20-seater capacity and two Bell412 helicopters. “The demand is increasing and to be on par, we need to expand our service capabilities. These helicopters would be to transport passengers and these will come with required modifications for this purpose,” said Squadron Leader de Zoysa.

“The MA60s, bought this year, completing its test runs will join the fleet by beginning of next year,” according to de Zoysa. “There is a heavy demand for twenty-seater helicopters from many travel agencies as they bring tourists in groups. It is the twenty-seater that is ideal for,” Zoysa added. At present Heli Tours is equipped with Bell206 (4 seater), Bell212 (8 seater) and MI17 (20 seater) helicopters along with AN 32 and Y12 fixed wing air planes.

The Y12 can carry 15 people while the giant AN32 carry 45 passengers at a time.

With the new addition of flights, the Heli Tours plans to expand wings to South Indian destinations and the Maldives. By the beginning of next year, Weerawila and Koggala will be included in the list of local destinations. At present Heli Tours flies to Jaffna, Batticalao, Ampara, Vavuniya and Kilinochchi.

It is planned to establish two new runways in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya and the survey is in progress.

The new runway in Kilinochchi is under construction while the Mannar and Mullaitivu runways are under repair and expects to complete work soon.

HELITOURS recently ventured into Off Shore aircraft operation, supporting oil exploration in Sri Lankan waters, sidelining foreign contenders. Heli tours operates two shuttle services per day to carry the crew of an oil exploring vessel from Colombo to the Gulf of Mannar.

Heli Tours is registered as an aircraft parts and equipment supplier to the Sri Lanka Air Force. “We go through the normal tender procedure when bidding. We are in a better position to supply good quality items at a very reasonable rate,” said the Foreign Purchasing officer Squadron Leader Samantha Fernando. “If we can offer the best bid at the requirement of the Air Force we can easily save funds within the organisation,” he said. Upto 2011, Heli Tours total earnings was Rs. 180 million.

While expanding local services, Heli Tours have began international ticketing. The new Heli Tours office is at Sir Chiththampalam A. Gardinar Mawatha next to the Sri Lanka Air Force headquarters.