Helicopter Sightseeing Tours

Headquartered at Québec Cité Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB), GoHelico offers tours of the 400-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site towns and regions. "Québec is the most beloved trip, its rivers, its landscapes, it' s a 25-minute flight," says Stéphanie Huot, General Director of GoHelico. "We' re on duty all year round - summers are the busy seasons, our autumn leaf flies are amazing, and our travelers can even enjoy our celebrated Quebec Carnival from the skies!

Pilot students like to fly and learn about the area, while passenger pictures are taken of the large Château Frontenactel, the Plains of Abraham and the old Quebec surrounded by walls. For the would-be flyers, who can hardly wait to get their hand on the steering, GoHelico is offering a pilot for a day's introduction to helicopter use.

The Niagara Helicopters offer a new perspective on the waterfalls. Every year, the thundering noise of a thousand square metres of Niagara Falls falling every second attracts million of tourists to the waterfalls and the area. Waterfalls extend across the Canadian-American boundary along the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and last year almost 100,000 spectators took a Niagara helicopter flight through the waterfalls.

"Once you take off, you'll see the way the ice has taken to cut out Niagara Falls," says Anna Pierce, Niagara Helicopters VP and General Executive. "Niagara Helicopters has been in service for over 50 years and runs a fleet of four Airbus H130 helicopters. If the flight over the waterfalls is not enough, Niagara Helicopters also take visitors to a nearby vineyards for a trip, winetasting and a special lunch.

"Pierce says the iced wine is spectacular." Blackcomb allows you to touch down on a 12,000 year old mountaintop. Located in the heart of Scotland, there is the world-famous Scotland Blackcomb skiing area, which is at the heart of the year-round adventure. Right next to the village is the Heliport, where Blackcomb Helicopters take their visitors on helicopter tours over the Coast Mountains of the area.

Blackcomb's most beloved is the BC Experience, which features a scenic trip over the skiing area and, in good days, a 12,000-year-old mountain retreat on Rainbow Mountain. Also in the midst of summers, during their 15 minute stay on the ice, guests can have a snowshoe battle or make snowshoe angel.

"We even flew 300 to the top of a hinterland ice cap to host a stunning sparkling wine cocktail party," says Jordy Norris, Blackcomb Helicoptersales & Markets. "Is this the Grand Canyon helicopter ride of the future? One of the seven natural marvels of the world, the Grand Canyon's size is breathtaking - 277 kilometers long, between 10 and 18 kilometers broad from edge to edge, and with an approximate mean deep of one kilometer.

An overwhelming part of the canyon's visitor population enjoys an unbelievable view of the Colorado River from the north and south edges. However, for the more enterprising - and well-to-do - Las Vegas-based Maverick Helicopters, the Grand Canyon Helicopter Trip is the best choice. "It' s two and a half hour of hands-on training from helicopter launch to return," says Bryan Kroten, VP of Global Sales, Maverick Helicopters.

We then make a huge'S' turn over the Hoover Dam so that the passenger has a clear sight on both sides of the helicopter. "The helicopter begins to climb down into the canyon after about 45 min flight over the Mojave Desert and drops 3,500 ft to the canyon ground for touchdown.

On the way back we drive through the bright reddish Bowl of Fire, which can only be reached by helicopter. Then, the helicopter ride ends with a mountain passport along the Las Vegas stripe as the sights of the town turn on at night. With a vast portfolio of 47 Airbus EC130 and H130 helicopters, Maverick Helicopters was the aircraft's first client and worked with Airbus to further develop the aircraft's current worldwide favourite sightseeing helicopter configuration.