Aviation Helicopter entrepreneurs found that price is not an issue when an experience seeker wants a flight to an archipelago dinner, to admire the sunset or to the bears in Kainuu

Joonas Nurmi and Ari Kallinen had had long careers in aviation, but after the onset of the corona pandemic, Nurmi’s work at Finnair ended in the summer of 2020.

“Everything stopped, we had to come up with something,” says Joonas Nurmi.

The buddies began to think of a workable and up-to-date business idea. They decided to try the helicopter business.

As a professional pilot, Kallinen dominated the operational side of flying. Nurmi had aviation business expertise from Finnair for 15 years from cabin crew duties to many ground organization jobs.

Helicopter SECTOR had been asleep in Finland for about 15 years – since Copterline left Tallinn for Helsinki the helicopter had crashed into the sea and all 14 persons involved had died.

At the same time, helicopter flights had become more common in the rest of the world and service offerings had developed.

The prosperous crowd in particular enjoyed using helicopters to quickly gain impressive experiences on land, at sea and in the air.

“Finland has great potential, because there are a lot of destinations here that are difficult to reach. You don’t have to be on the road for two weeks to go see the bears on the eastern border or pop into Åland for a day, ”says Joonas Nurmi, another founder of Helsinki Citycopter.

For business travelers, a helicopter ride was often a sensible option.

“There are always fewer scheduled flights to the provinces, and in the big country there is a long way to the nearest airport,” Nurmi explains.

Grass says Helsinki Citycopter has started operations with a capital of one thousand euros.

“I had just been laid off. Ari took care of the operation. I conceptualized the service. The helicopter was rented and the money was used for Facebook marketing. ”

After a two-week trial, the capacity was sold for the entire winter.

“It was realized that there was no point in quitting.”

The activity had started with “experience flights”, which allowed us to watch the beginning of the sunset over the city of Helsinki and the archipelago.

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“Trips to Thailand in honor of the 20th anniversary were replaced by a helicopter trip to Finland.”

In the process it was found that there was a demand for various other experience products as well.

For example, the Fly, Dine, Sail package, in which customers were flown to the high seas to enjoy dinner at a five-star dinner hosted by a chef on a return trip with a catamaran, won Visit Finland’s travel product competition, Nurmi says.

Similarly, many foreigners have been interested in flying by helicopter to a glass-walled cottage in Kainuu equipped with outdoor microphones, in the yard of which bears tossed with 99% confidence to dine.

According to Nurmi, the pandemic even increased demand.

“It’s awful to say that Korona has certainly influenced and increased the popularity of helicopter travel. It’s corona-proof and pretty effortless. ”

Business passengers have direct access to the plane in the helicopter, and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport does not need to be visited when Helsinki Citycopter handles corona tests, papers and luggage.

Nurmi points out that in the United States, Monaco and Nice, feeder traffic to airports has long been commonplace.

Helsinki Citycopter’s trips to Hanko and Mariehamn also went on sale in the summer.

And when the borders were closed, many replaced the various celebrations of their festivities and anniversaries with helicopter flights.

“Trips to Thailand in honor of the 20th anniversary were replaced by a helicopter trip to Finland.”

Helsinki Citycopter now has three helicopters. They can accommodate 3 to 5 people. For the summer season of 2022, the company has ordered two Airbus-class ACH130 helicopters, each accommodating six passengers and a pilot.

Helsinki Citycopter buys one of them for its own use and rents the other.

“A charter customer expects air conditioning, space and good views from the flight. The kind of travel comfort you want to pay for. ”

Nurmi says that he has noticed that some Finnish customers rented a helicopter and a pilot for the use of a villa yard, for example, to wait where and when the lessee and his entourage would like to leave.

The daily rent was € 9,500 and the flight was limited to a maximum of 800 kilometers.

Price was not an issue.

“There were a lot of these in the summer.”

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“Finland’s strength is nature and silence, and we want to cherish it.”

Airbus the new helicopter model was originally designed to meet the needs of U.S. helicopter tour operators. They flew tourists from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon National Park, for example, to admire the scenery of a mountain and canyon more than five million years old.

The noise of the old helicopters disturbed nature and other visitors so much that helicopter trips with noisy planes were banned, Nurmi says.

“That’s why we developed a device that looks good and is quiet and environmentally friendly.”

Nurmi says that the helicopter uses about 150 kilos of kerosene per hour on a regular cruising flight at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. A reasonable maximum distance with one refueling is three hours and 600 kilometers.

Natural attractions quick admiration by helicopter feels like there are many somewhat contradictory ways to enjoy nature in the midst of a climate crisis.

Nurmi says that Helsinki Citycopter does not want to disguise its operations in the sense of green washing, but the equipment must be modern and as environmentally friendly as possible.

Customers also demand environmentally friendly equipment and comfort. The soundproofed cabin is appreciated, Nurmi says.

“Finland’s strength is nature and silence, and we want to cherish it.”

“We recognize the impact of aviation. It is important that you try to do it as responsibly as possible. ”

Correction 13.12.2021 at 8.55: The caption of the article previously incorrectly stated that Joonas Nurmi is the CEO of Helsinki Citycopter. In fact, he is the co-founder of the company. The article also reported earlier that the company is leasing another helicopter from Airbus. In fact, the helicopter is not rented directly from Airbus.