Helicopters into Heathrow?

[AdamFrisch]

I was wondering, is there a helipad/port or an approved approach for helis into Heathrow? I seem to recall having read very little about it, if anything.

Has there ever been some kind of regular heli service from Heathrow to ether Battersea or elsewhere, a bit like the now defunct US Helicopter shuttle from Manhattan to JFK?

[Bravo73]

I was wondering, is there a helipad/port or an approved approach for helis into Heathrow? I seem to recall having read very little about it, if anything.


This is from the AIP for EGLL:

5. Helicopter Operations

a. Helicopters are at all times subject to PPR.
b. Landing and Departing Procedures
i. A helicopter landing at/departing from London Heathrow will normally route from/to either the holding point Sipson or that at Bedfont (or Feltham if appropriate) from/to the helicopter aiming point located on the aerodorme.
ii. The helicopter aiming point is located on the taxiway area east of Link 43. It is marked with an 18 m sided triangle with a conventional 'H'. This aiming point is lit and available for use throughout operational hours. The take-off and climb surface has been protected to 8% to the east and west of the aiming point (see Chart AD 2-EGLL-4-1). Pilots are advised of the presence of a radar tower located on grass area 170 m east of the aiming point. Tower height 31 ft aal/107 ft amsl.
iii. Caution must be exercised when using this aiming point which is on a live taxiway.
iv. Helicopters alighting at the aiming point will ground or air-taxi to the parking areas as directed by ATC.
v. In circumstances as detailed in AD 2.22, Flight procedures, paragraph 9, visual separation will be applied whilst the helicopter is in transit between the holding point and the helicopter aiming point. In all other circumstances, standard separation will be applied.



What this actually means is that you will invariably end up holding over Bedfont until there is a break in the traffic taxiing past the heli aiming point. Parking is either at the VIP area (if it's still there??? It's been a few years since I had to land at LHR) or around the corner in the freight area.

Start-up is the biggest hassle. You have to join the back of the queue of all the tin toobs and, depending on departures, the delay can often be over an hour. :* After start, you then join the queue on the taxiway with all of the Boeings & Airbuses and line up on the departure runway. (This is probably the most amusing part of the process - 747, A380, 747, heli, 737 etc) :ok: Then you're up and away, back onto the helilanes.




Has there ever been some kind of regular heli service from Heathrow to ether Battersea or elsewhere, a bit like the now defunct US Helicopter shuttle from Manhattan to JFK?

There was a regular LHR-LGW service using S61s before the M25 was built. But, as far as I know, there hasn't been a regular LHR-BATT service.



HTH

[A30yoyo]

I'm out of touch with Heathrow now but there used to be helicopter routes running out West from London past Heathrow and one local? route directly across the centre
Air-Britain : Douglas DC-8-33 (http://www.abpic.co.uk/popup.php?q=1009631)
There was a service with BEA S-55s back in the mid-fifties to the South Bank site on the Thames near Parliament

'COPTERDROME AT SOUTH BANK - British Pathe (http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=31946)

a route Birmingham/Heathrow Gatwick with Bristol Sycamores in 1955 see link

http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1228011F.jpg

from which a splendid view of the BEA fleet temporarily operating from the closed runway 28R could be had

http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1242115F.jpg

and in the Seventies an S-61 service to Gatwick withdrawn when the M25 motorway was built in the Eighties

http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1139470F.jpg

and occasionally you'd get a rare visitor

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/7/0/1/0793107.jpg

[ShyTorque]

I go there fairly frequently.

It's the luck of the draw regarding a hold at Bedfont, depending on which runway is in use.

A night slot always means a runway arrival and departure, but in daylight helis are normally directed to use the HAP off the southern taxiway for departure as well as arrival. I've never had to wait as long as an hour for start up. Heli parking is now normally on the southern cargo stands.

[toptobottom]

ST - do you know what the landing fee is at LHR?!

[Bravo73]

ST - do you know what the landing fee is at LHR?!

Less than Battersea! :mad:




Disclaimer: At least it was a couple of years ago.

[nigelh]

We have taken many pax into Heathrow day and night in an AS 350 and have never had a problem with long waits ...in fact the ATC are so efficient there they nip you in and around all the traffic with great skill (none of your waiting on the ground for a plane on 10 mile final when all you want to do is depart at 90deg to the runway and can be well away when the plane is still on 4 mile final ..)

The other great thing about it is the fuel price which is cheapest in the country by a mile .

[JulieAndrews]

Concur with Nh, atc excellent - makes a mockery of the backwater, quiet "International Airports" that try and control/manage helicopters - yes that means you LBA!
Always have a good idea where blcks of taxiways are/procedures etc, especialy single pilot ops - sucking eggs I agree but I've heard chopper pilots embarrass themselves with requests over busy RT that quite frankly ATC would be within their right to order aircraft to shutdown and not to trouble their airwaves again!

Bon Voyage

[Sir Niall Dementia]

The next trick is for Gatwick and Southampton to become as user friendly as LHR:E

[ShyTorque]

Toptobottom, it's BAA rates. Ring Signature Heathrow and ask:

HBAE - Signature Flight Support (http://www.handbook.aero/hb_handlerpage.html?recnum=6418)

Yes, it's much cheaper than Battersea Heliport.

[nigelh]

Julie Andrews ...how did you know i was referring to Leeds ?? Of course you are spot on .....there are now one or two controllers who actually realise that you can lift and depart straight from the Multiflight East to the south even with a plane on 1 ml final !!!!! Very frustrating when they make you wait for a long time , then get you to taxi to the runway just to take off and fly over where you have just come from:ugh: If you ask nicely they will now often let you arrive /depart to/from the hovver training area without using the runway .

[obnoxio f*ckwit]

Crossed Heathrow many times but landed only twice, both compassionates, ATC were excellent, straight in from the North to the H, gnd taxi to the royal suite to pick up, then immediate departure down the N-S taxiway just to the S of the suite. Did ask to position next to the incoming jet the first time, but think that was probably a step too far! ATC very apologetic though. However, both passengers said they were met on arrival and whisked through customs etc with no delay at all. Have heard some horror stories about Heathrow but have never had any problems myself and when questioned the complainants were usually just passing on something they had "heard".

[Bilbo Bagover]

Landing fees have moved on a bit.. You rarely get change out of £1000. Between BAA and Signature they have the place stitched up.

ATC are not bad but anticipation is not their greatest strength. They tend to send you to Bedfont and stick you in the hold. Its normally 3-4mins holding before they pluck up the courage to fit you in between landing traffic.

By the time the pax are picked up, driven through security and around to their terminal we find its normally quicker to go to an off airport site.

As someone said, departing from Heathrow is normally a 20 minute affair.

Bilbo

[Gonzo]

Sorry all, just seen this thread.

We have been working away, in concert with BAA Heathrow, for a few years in an attempt to improve our service to helicopters. We now have the HAP available at night, rather than having to use the runway. We have also managed to develop procedures whereby the HAP is independent of 09R/27L for vortex purposes (unless an A380 is using the runway). Hopefully this should mean less holding at Bedfont for inbounds and less holding on the HAP for outbounds when 09R/27L is the departure runway (we used to have to give you 3 minutes vortex separation following a departure).

Hopefully this year we will be promulgating a change in the crossing procedures, re-naming some points (Dual Taxiways and Fuel Farm) and coming up with some more that should make the procedure (especially on easterlies) a lot more straightforward and safer.

The main reason why you hold at Bedfont waiting to get in is actually to ensure the exclusion zone around the HAP is clear of ground traffic. Essentially, most of the triangle that is formed by Terminal 4, 09R/27L and the stands 451-456 and Royal Suite either need to be completely clear of traffic, or where traffic is permitted, it must be stationary.

I'm hosting a visit today for 6 HCGB members, and I'm hoping to make it a regular thing, so get in touch with them!

If anyone else has any moans/criticism/points for improvement, please let me know and I'll try and explain/apologise!!! :ok:

[Helinut]

ATC at LHR are just brilliant, particularly if you consider the level of traffic they deal with. The changes Gonzo mentioned sound like a real improvement too.

You can't really expect much more for minor usage like ours, I would have thought. It is a shame that other UK "International" airfields are not as willing to provide a good service to the likes of us minnows.

[Bilbo Bagover]

Resurrecting an old thread. Just priced up a helicopter landing at Heathrow tomorrow at over £11,000!

Even for aviation that’s quite a punchy rise since the £1000 I reported in March 2011.

When we went to try and book it we were told there were no slots available. 🤷🏻‍♂️

There is definitely a cost of living crisis…🤪

[ShyTorque]

Bilbo,

It’s a disgrace. It used to cost a couple of hundred quid (it cost £95 to park an S-76 overnight when I was flying them). Prior to the Olympic Games, changes were made (in the name of extra security precautions) including deletion of the lower aircraft weight categories and a £1200 surcharge for the airport security to vet and transport the pax. Although you had to book via and deal with a handling agent and pay for their presence, they were not allowed to handle either the pax or their baggage. Essentially you had to pay for handling twice! The deletion of the lower weight categories meant that the lowest landing fee became the same as something the size of a fully laden Boeing 737!

I suggest the best way now to get pax to and from Heathrow is to operate out of Fairoaks and get a handling agent to provide road transport to and from there. It’s about a 25 minute journey, which sounds terrible, but in practice it’s not much longer than getting from the terminal to the south side heli parking, or vice versa.

[love flying]

I was wondering if it relates to a planning concept of "noise per passenger". Another London airport was given an annual cumulative noise budget to be divided by number of passengers. Helicopters don't fare well.

[AircraftOperations]

Bilbo,

It’s a disgrace. It used to cost a couple of hundred quid (it cost £95 to park an S-76 overnight when I was flying them). Prior to the Olympic Games, changes were made (in the name of extra security precautions) including deletion of the lower aircraft weight categories and a £1200 surcharge for the airport security to vet and transport the pax. Although you had to book via and deal with a handling agent and pay for their presence, they were not allowed to handle either the pax or their baggage. Essentially you had to pay for handling twice! The deletion of the lower weight categories meant that the lowest landing fee became the same as something the size of a fully laden Boeing 737!

I suggest the best way now to get pax to and from Heathrow is to operate out of Fairoaks and get a handling agent to provide road transport to and from there. It’s about a 25 minute journey, which sounds terrible, but in practice it’s not much longer than getting from the terminal to the south side heli parking, or vice versa.

Some years back, we used to use one of the Bath Road hotels for quick turnarounds, either the Renaissance or the Holiday Inn from memory, which were quick and pretty cheap. Presume they are no longer options?

[ShyTorque]

There is the Crowne Plaza just to the north at Sipson, but it’s usable by day only and it needs a low flying rules permission if you are a non AOC holder.

[Weasel Watcher]

In the mid 1980`s there was a shuttle service between Battersea and LHR operated by Virgin Helicopters with an AS 355 Twin Squirrel. It never really caught on for a number of reasons, one being that serious baggage had to go by road. The journey from Battersea to LHR was taking on average about 45 minutes and was fairly expensive so it petered out after a short while. The McAlpine facility at Hayes was quite convenient and only a short drive to any of the terminals, sadly no longer operative.