Five seats, five suitcases
and a French law nobody quotes.
The helicopter is not the flight: it is the last leg. It covers the kilometres between the airport that takes the jet and the resort, where the jet cannot go. Geneva to Courchevel is 35 minutes against two and a half hours by road; from Chambéry, 25 against ninety minutes. But five passengers per rotation means five: a party of eight is two trips, and they have to be budgeted before, not after.
Four tables, the same sum.
How long it takes flying, how long it takes driving.
Where the figure is published we print it; where it is not, we say so. Flying times come from the alpine helicopter operators, the kilometres and road times from the airport files. Road times are for the Saturday changeover, not a Tuesday in March.
From the French Alps and Switzerland — from Geneva LSGG
Geneva asks no particular qualification of the crew: that is its main advantage over Sion and Samedan. From 15 December to the end of April it does require PPR both inbound and outbound, and the slot is booked a maximum of 21 days ahead.
| Destination | Distance | Helicopter | Car in winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courchevel | 150 km | 35 min | 150 min |
| Val d’Isère | 220 km | 40 min | 180 min |
| Méribel | non pubblicata | 30 min | non pubblicato |
| Val Thorens | non pubblicata | 40 min | non pubblicato |
| Megève | non pubblicata | 25 min | non pubblicato |
| Verbier | non pubblicata | 45 min | 110 min |
| Gstaad | non pubblicata | 40 min | non pubblicato |
| Zermatt | non pubblicata | 60 min | 240 min |
| Crans-Montana | non pubblicata | non pubblicato | 150 min |
From the Tarentaise — from Chambéry LFLB
It is the closest airport to the valley, and it shows in the minutes. But on winter weekends arrivals are five an hour in total, there is no hangar, and weekend parking is assessed case by case.
| Destination | Distance | Helicopter | Car in winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courchevel | non pubblicata | 25 min | 90 min |
| Méribel | non pubblicata | 20 min | non pubblicato |
| Val Thorens | non pubblicata | 25 min | non pubblicato |
| Val d’Isère | 135 km | 35 min | 120 min |
From the fallback airports — Annecy, Grenoble, Lyon
These take the diversions when Chambéry saturates. Annecy has 1,598 metres of runway and closes at 19:00 in winter; Grenoble has 3,050 and operates 07:00-21:00; Lyon has 4,000 and no curfew.
| Destination | Distance | Helicopter | Car in winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courchevel — da Annecy | non pubblicata | 30 min | non pubblicato |
| Courchevel — da Grenoble | 180 km | 40 min | 135 min |
| Courchevel — da Lione | 180 km | 45 min | 135 min |
| Megève — da Annecy | non pubblicata | 20 min | non pubblicato |
| Méribel — da Lione | non pubblicata | 35 min | non pubblicato |
| Val Thorens — da Lione | non pubblicata | 40 min | non pubblicato |
| Val d’Isère — da Grenoble | 165 km | non pubblicato | 150 min |
Where there is no helicopter — Tyrol, Arlberg, Dolomites
East of the Swiss Alps the last leg is almost always by road. Here the airport is not chosen out of habit, it is chosen on the number: between Innsbruck and Salzburg, for Lech-Zürs, there are a hundred and eighty kilometres and nearly two hours of difference.
| Destination | Distance | Helicopter | Car in winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitzbühel — da Salisburgo | 81 km | non opera | 90 min |
| Kitzbühel — da Innsbruck | 96 km | non opera | non pubblicato |
| Lech-Zürs — da Innsbruck | 120 km | non opera | 100 min |
| Lech-Zürs — da Friedrichshafen | 130 km | non opera | 105 min |
| Lech-Zürs — da Zurigo | 190 km | non opera | 140 min |
| Lech-Zürs — da Salisburgo | 300 km | non opera | 200 min |
| Cortina d’Ampezzo — da Venezia | 162 km | eliporto a Fiames | non pubblicato |
| St Moritz — da Samedan | non pubblicata | non serve | 10 min |
And then the law nobody quotes. In France, article L363-1 of the environmental code prohibits, in mountain areas, the dropping off and picking up of passengers by powered aircraft for leisure purposes, other than on an aerodrome or an authorised area. It means the helicopter does not leave you where you like: it leaves you where it is permitted. At Courchevel, Méribel, Megève and the Daille at Val d'Isère those areas exist. At Chamonix they do not, and the last leg is by road.
Flight times calculated on great-circle distance at average cruise speed, boarding not included. Road times are observed, not guaranteed: they depend on the day and the hour.
Six jobs only it can do.
The jet's last leg
The jet drops you at the nearest usable airport — Geneva, Chambéry, Sion, Annecy — and the helicopter takes you where the jet cannot go. It is the connection that makes the whole trip make sense, and the one the client remembers afterwards.
When the altiport takes no jets
Courchevel has 537 metres of runway and an 18.6% gradient, Megève 548 at 7%, Méribel 406 at 1,717 metres of altitude. No business jet lands on any of them. The helicopter gets there, and so do turboprops with a qualified crew.
The sightseeing flight
Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, the Aletsch glacier at cruising height: twenty or forty minutes worth more than a whole day. Same aircraft and same operator as the transfer, in a window of good weather.
When the road closes
Fresh snow on the hairpins above Moûtiers, a pass shut, the tunnel backed up on the holiday return. These are the days when the helicopter stops being a choice and becomes the only way to arrive the same day — and they are also the days when it is hardest to find one free.
The survey at altitude
Lift inspections, aerial filming, moving technicians to high-altitude sites. Less romantic, far more frequent than it sounds.
The evening return
The French altiports and the Zermatt heliport operate 07:00 to 23:00; Gstaad-Saanen, from December to March, only 08:00 to 20:00. The Daille heliport closes at 23:00: a jet landing at Geneva at 22:30 no longer has a helicopter, and that night you sleep in the valley.
Five real limits.
We would rather say them now.
- Baggage is the constraint, before the seats. Towards Méribel the declared capacity is five suitcases plus two soft bags per rotation, with five passengers. With ski bags the sum changes again: one ski bag takes the room of two suitcases. Eight of you with equipment means two trips, and the second one is paid for.
- It flies visually. With low cloud or strong wind the last leg does not go, and the road plan always has to be in place. The easterly Föhn is the wind that closes Sion: when it blows, the alternate is Geneva, and from there to Crans-Montana is two and a half hours by car.
- Darkness is not a given. Alpine heliports close early and the hours are not the same everywhere. Flying after sunset needs certification and instrumentation: it can be done, but it has to be planned, not decided on the spot.
- It does not leave you where you like. In France, disembarking in a mountain area is allowed only on aerodromes and authorised areas: article L363-1 of the environmental code. Having the meadow is not enough, and having the owner's permission is not enough.
- Altitude takes payload away. At 2,300 metres, as at the Val Thorens altiport, the helicopter carries less than it does on the valley floor. And Val Thorens and Verbier operate seasonally and subject to weather: they are not a service guaranteed every day.
Single-engine or twin.
It isn't a matter of taste.
The twin costs more and is needed for night flying, when the client's internal procedure requires it, or on longer sectors. On the twenty-five minute daytime transfer between Chambéry and Courchevel the single does exactly the same job.
Three to six passengers
- Robinson R44 and R66 — 3–4 seats, the cheapest option for short transfers. Minimal luggage, soft bags only.
- Airbus H125 and H130 — 5-6 seats, the workhorse of the Alps: reliable in wind, good performance at altitude, a wide cabin and excellent visibility for sightseeing.
- Bell 407 and AW119 Koala — 6–7 seats, faster and with more range, for when the transfer becomes a real leg.
Six to thirteen passengers
- AW109 Grand and Power — 6-7 seats in VIP configuration, the machine most used on the links between valley airports and resorts.
- Airbus H145 and Bell 429 — 7–8 seats, tall cabin and side door: easier with luggage and with less agile passengers.
- AW139 and H155 — 8-13 seats, the group category. It needs a properly equipped heliport: not every alpine altiport is one.
Write the resort name.
If it has no runway, we already know.
Of fifteen alpine resorts on file, fourteen have no runway that takes jets. The booking engine works this out on its own and puts the helicopter into the chain, with the minutes and the price shown separately.