Agusta-Westland AW-139 East Asia Airlines B-MHI, Shun Tak Heliport, Hong Kong PP1281359870

Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited (,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: Helicópteros Aéreos Expressos) is a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

service operator based in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. Formerly known as Helicopters Hong Kong Limited and before that as East Asia Helicopters, it operates helicopter routes between Macau,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

. Sky Shuttle employs over 250 people.

History

East Asia Airlines Limited was established in July 1988 and Macau-Hong Kong services commenced in November 1990 by using two

Bell 222 The Bell 222 is an American twin-engine light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 230 is an improved development with different engines and other minor changes. Development Origins In the late 1960s, Bell began designing a new twin- ...

helicopters with six flights per day. Helicopters Hong Kong Limited (‘HeliHK’) established in 1997, formed a partnership with

East Asia Airlines Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited (, Portuguese language, Portuguese: Helicópteros Aéreos Expressos) is a helicopter service operator based in Macau. Formerly known as Helicopters Hong Kong Limited and before that as East Asia Helicopters, it ...

, to create the largest commercial helicopter operation in the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Mac ...

region providing shuttle service between Hong Kong and Macau and introduced a fleet change from Bell 222 to Sikorsky S76C+ helicopters. Subsequently, a new company name “Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited” was launched in November 2008, as part of a new corporate branding exercise. In 2009 another fleet change took place when

AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139 is a medium-lift twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, later wholly owned by Leonardo S.p.A. It is marketed at several different roles, including V ...

helicopters were purchased to replace the aging S-76C+s.

2010 ditching

The airline's noon departure from Hong Kong for Macau ended in a controlled ditching of one of its AW139s in Victoria Harbour immediately post-takeoff due to a tail rotor failure. The 11 passengers and 2 crew escaped serious injury.

Services

Shuttle service

Sky Shuttle is the sole commercial helicopter operator between HK, Macau and Shenzhen, PRC, with Sky Shuttle operating 40 flights daily between Macau Maritime Terminal and Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong from 10 am to 11 pm, and 6 flights a day between Macau Maritime Terminal and Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, all of about 15 minutes duration.

Charter services

Sky Shuttle also operates services for sightseeing, aerial photography and general private charter.

Heliports

* Sky Shuttle Heliport renamed from Shun Tak Heliport 2nd Helipad added 2009 *

Shun Tak Heliport Shun may refer to one of the following: *To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group * Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬) Emperor Shun * Emperor Shun (舜; ...

, at the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, Shun Tak Centre, 200 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong - 1 pad built in 1986, * Macau Heliport at 3/F Macau Maritime Terminal, Avenida da Amizade, Macau - 5 pads upgraded in 2001 * Shenzhen Heliport at 3/F of Shenzhen Baoan International Airport Terminal, Shenzhen, China

Fleet

As of July 2016, Sky Shuttle operates

helicopters.

Formerly operated

Sikorsky S-76 The Sikorsky S-76 is a medium-size commercial utility helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It is the company's first helicopter specifically developed for the civilian market. The S-76 w ...

Also previously operated by Helicopters Hong Kong were *

Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama The Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama is a French single-engined helicopter developed to meet hot and high operational requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. It combines the lighter Aérospatiale Alouette II airframe with Alouette III components and p ...

Eurocopter AS350 Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Ai ...

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progra ...

References

External links

Sky Shuttle official siteSky Shuttle Helicopter aircraft
{{Transport in China Airlines of Macau Airlines established in 1997 Airlines of Hong Kong Airlines of China Helicopter airlines