Originally Posted by
POBJOY
All 'New heliport' plans on hold due Cornwall Council 'suggesting' that the planning permission given is 'doubtful'.
I also think that the costs have escalated and there will be no 'user rights' transferable from the old site.
In essence the new location is just that NEW and would be subject to far more scrutiny for both planning and CAA licensing.
As to the actual equipment planned I suspect it would be difficult to really operate at a profit with its low payload, and diversion reserves.
The original PZ operation benefitted from its sea level location and was in the weather shadow of the west Cornwall peninsular; the very idea of operating the new service from Lands-End was quite correctly rejected due to the well know weather restrictions at St Just (who have spent a small fortune on GPS approach technology to try and deal with this).
On another tack I did hear that the dedicated S61 'EB' that served for years on the route (specially modified to allow quick turarounds) is now logging in Canada.
Lot of speculation here. The new PZ location clearly best situated and no planning or certification barriers. As to type, well AW139s now available on used /lease market and performance will allow an increased frequency and faster passage to meet passenger demand.