Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited (, Portuguese: Helicópteros Aéreos Expressos) is a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

service operator based in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Formerly known as Helicopters Hong Kong Limited, it operates helicopter routes between Macau,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

History

East Asia Airlines Limited was established in July 1988 and Macau-Hong Kong services commenced in November 1990 by using two

Bell 222 The Bell 222 is an American twin-engine light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 230 is an improved development with different engines and other minor changes. Development Origins In the late 1960s, Bell began designing a new twin-t ...

helicopters with six flights per day. Helicopters Hong Kong Limited (‘HeliHK’) established in 1997, formed a partnership with East Asia Airlines, to create the largest commercial helicopter operation in the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

region providing shuttle service between Hong Kong and Macau and introduced a fleet change from Bell 222 to Sikorsky S76C+ helicopters. Subsequently, a new company name “Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited” was launched in November 2008, as part of a new corporate branding exercise. In 2009 another fleet change took place when

AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139, now known as the Leonardo AW139, is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, now part of Leonardo. It is marketed at several differ ...

helicopters were purchased to replace the aging S-76C+s. ''2010 ditching'' The airline's noon departure from Hong Kong for Macau ended in a controlled ditching of one of its AW139s in Victoria Harbour immediately post-takeoff due to a tail rotor failure. The 11 passengers and 2 crew escaped serious injury. 2020 - 2022 - Operations suspended during the period of the global pandemic. January 26, 2024 - Operations resumed for scheduled flights 5 days per week and 7 flights per day between Macau - Hong Kong and Macau - Shenzhen.

Services

Shuttle service

Sky Shuttle is the sole commercial helicopter operator between HK, Macau and Shenzhen, PRC, with Sky Shuttle operating 35 flights weekly between Macau Maritime Terminal and Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong from 9 am to 8 pm, and 5 flights per week between Macau Maritime Terminal and Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, all of about 15 minutes duration.

Charter services

Sky Shuttle also operates services for sightseeing, aerial photography and general private charter.

Heliports

* Sky Shuttle Heliport renamed from Shun Tak Heliport 2nd Helipad added 2009 * Shun Tak Heliport, at the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, Shun Tak Centre, 200 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong - 1 pad built in 1986, * Macau Heliport at 3/F Macau Maritime Terminal, Avenida da Amizade, Macau - 5 pads upgraded in 2001 * Shenzhen Heliport at 3/F of Shenzhen Baoan International Airport Terminal, Shenzhen, China

Fleet

As of July 2016, Sky Shuttle operates

helicopters.

Formerly operated

Sikorsky S-76 The Sikorsky S-76 is a medium-size commercial utility helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It is the company's first helicopter specifically developed for the civilian market. The S-76 ...

Also previously operated by Helicopters Hong Kong were *

Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama The Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama is a French single-engined helicopter. It combines the lighter Aérospatiale Alouette II airframe with Aérospatiale Alouette III, Alouette III components and powerplant. The Lama possesses exceptional high altitude ...

Eurocopter AS350 Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wor ...

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progr ...

References

External links

Sky Shuttle official siteSky Shuttle Helicopter aircraft
{{Transport in China Airlines of Macau Airlines established in 1997 Airlines of Hong Kong Airlines of China Helicopter airlines