Residents of the Isles of Scilly are being invited to gather at St Mary’s Airport next week to welcome the first scheduled helicopter flight to the islands in six years.
The Isles of Scilly Steamship Group launches its new Island Helicopter service on Monday (May 21), which will offer a year-round service from Land’s End Airport to St Mary’s, flying to Scilly up to eight times a day, six days a week.
School children from Five Islands School on St Mary’s have been invited to watch the first helicopter land from a special viewing area and the Steamship Group is inviting islanders to join them at the airport from 8am onwards that morning to welcome the first helicopter when it arrives and to enjoy coffee and pastries.
Stuart Reid, acting chief operating officer of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, said: “We are thrilled to be bringing helicopters back to the Isles of Scilly with the return of the first scheduled helicopter service to the islands since 2012.
“We’d like to celebrate this milestone when Island Helicopters launches on 21st May with the islanders on Scilly, for whom this new transport service will mean greater choice, and enhanced resilience in year-round transport links with the mainland.
“Please come and join us at St Mary’s Airport to watch Island Helicopters’ first scheduled flight as it is coming in to land.”
Fares for the new service start from £215 return, and flights from Land’s End take approximately 20 minutes.
The Island Helicopter service will be operated by Gloucester-based Specialist Aviation Services (SAS) in partnership with the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, using a new ten-seater AW169 aircraft.
