Universal Helicopters was a commercial helicopter company located in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, Canada. While operating primarily in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

with operations sometimes extending into the Ungava Peninsula and the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

, Universal Helicopters held an International Operating Certificate and completed several contracts in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

History

The company started operations in 1963 and was a subsidiary of

Okanagan Helicopters CHC Helicopter is a Texas-based helicopter services company. CHC Helicopter maintains its global headquarters in Irving, Texas and operates more than 250 aircraft in 30 countries around the world. CHC's major international operating units are ...

. It was last owned by a partnership of companies formed by Nunatsiavut Group of Companies, Tasiujatsoak Trust and CAPE Fund. On September 10, 2018, the company announced it had finalized the purchase of Lakelse Air, as part of plan to double their revenue. Based in Northwest British Columbia, Lakelse Air had been seen as a strategic purchase to build and strengthen Indigenous relations across Canada for future job prospects. Shortly after acquiring Lakelse Air, Universal Helicopters began shifting its focus to work internationally and overseas. Pushing for Global growth along with their September 6, 2018 investment in South Coast Helicopters proved to be unsustainable, leading to their eventual financial difficulty. The company announced its sudden closure due to financial insolvency on May 27, 2020.

Bases

Universal Helicopters corporate head office, main stores and accounting services were situated in Goose Bay, Labrador with other bases situated at St. John's, Pasadena and Gander. Each location had permanent base personnel and hangar support facilities for year-round operations and maintenance.

Fleet

Universal Helicopters had the following aircraft registered with

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

:Profile
/ref> The Transport Canada list also shows that they once had a Bell 407.Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Aircraft Details C-FMEL
/ref>

Customer reception

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador had had extensive contracts with the company, using them for

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to patients requiring evacuation or transport using medically equipped air ambulances, helicopters and ...

, clinic support, forest fire surveillance and suppression, aerial searching, survey and mapping and personnel transport.

References

External links