FAQS

All pilots for Sydney Helicopters are highly experienced in a range of helicopter operations including Charter, Scenic, Powerline Inspection, Aerial Water Bombing, Aerial Photography and Film. Furthermore we are quality endorsed by ISO9001 and all of our pilots receive extensive company and factory training. See Our Company page and learn more about our team.

Your safety is Sydney Helicopters’ main priority when assessing if bookings will proceed due to weather. There are three main parameters which determine whether the flight will go ahead. These are wind speed, visibility and cloud height, although there can be other factors which influence the decision still. The type of flight will also help us to determine whether the flight goes ahead. If Sydney Helicopters has any concerns about the forecast weather in regards to a booking, then we will be in touch with the passengers as soon as we can. If you have any questions at all about the weather leading up to your flight, then please contact one of our staff on 02 9637 4455.

For information relating to our weather policy, please see our Terms and Conditions page.

We cater to passengers of all age groups as long as they are “fit to fly”, whereby a passenger’s physical health and conditioning is conducive to flying. Children of all ages are permitted to fly on our aircraft. Children aged under 3 years (infant) must be seated on the lap of an adult for the entire flight. Infants do not incur any charge. Two children aged 3 to 12 years are permitted to occupy a single seat in certain circumstances, at the discretion of Sydney Helicopters.

The only limitation with flying while pregnant is your comfort. During the later stages of pregnancy we ask that you feel “fit to fly” prior to arriving for your flight. If you are unsure of your capacity to fly whilst pregnant, please contact your healthcare professional.

The number of seats depends on the type of helicopter you will be flying in. We have number of different options with varying layouts. Please see our Fleet page for the different helicopter layouts. Generally there is one passenger seat in the front alongside the pilot, with the balance behind the front seats. All seats provide wonderful views. In any case, seating will be determined by the individual passenger weights. This is why when booking we require the weights of all passengers. This is for optimum weight distribution and loading of the aircraft.

You can wear whatever clothing and footwear in which you are comfortable. Dark shirts and tops are best for photo taking, as bright coloured clothing may put a reflective glare on the helicopter windows and reflect in your photos. Hats and other loose items are not recommended to be worn outside the aircraft as they can be displaced by the downwash from the helicopter rotors.

Our main heliport where we are based from is our Penrith Lakes Heliport, also known as the Nepean Aerospace Park. Please see our Facilities page for more details about our different pick locations in Sydney. All our Heliports offer secure parking within their grounds. Simply turn up and park for free at no extra cost.

Yes you can! Unlike the large airlines, we don’t require you to place your phone in flight mode whilst flying with Sydney Helicopters. Please feel free to use your mobile device as a great way to capture your experience whilst flying with us. Reviews are a great way to provide us with feedback about your experience and let your friends and family know what you have been up to. Please see the bottom of our Homepage to links to our social media accounts.

Please see our Terms and Conditions page for details.

Please see our Terms and Conditions page for details.

5. Cancellation Fees: Cancellation fees apply to all bookings. Credit card charges incurred by Sydney Helicopters will be charged to the passenger for ALL cancellations. Cancellations made with greater than 24 hours notice will be refunded 100% if there was any payment made. NO REFUNDS are available for cancellations made less than 24 hours prior to departure, except at the absolute discretion of Sydney Helicopters.

Before flying with Sydney Helicopters, please ensure that your luggage complies with the following brochure. If you have any questions then please speak to one of our staff.

Dangerous Goods Brochure – “Is Your Luggage Safe?”

For us to be able to land anywhere, we require permission from the landowners granting us approval. Whether it be for a landing at a council park or a private property, permission will need to be sort first. The other factor that determines whether we can land anywhere is it has to be a safe and suitable landing area for the helicopter. Please call or email us to see if a location you had in mind would be suitable for your next pick up or drop off.

The rules we operate under during daylight hours change when it comes to flying at night in two main areas:

1. Depending on the category of flight will determine what we can do with certain helicopters. For example, if you wanted to conduct film or photography (air work) work at night; this could be done in one of our single engine helicopters. If however, you wanted to hire (charter) a helicopter for the purpose of moving people, then this would require our twin-engine helicopter, which is a more expensive option.
2. Flying at night needs to be conducted at a higher altitude than during daylight hours. This applies to all categories of flight at night.