British Grand Prix gives PremiAir its busiest weekend ever

Tuesday 1st July, 2008

PremiAir is looking forward to its busiest weekend of the year to date – having confirmed record bookings for the forthcoming Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix in Silverstone. Bookings, from both City-based corporates and private individuals ahead of the July 5-6th weekend are up on last year with all of PremiAir’s 12-strong executive helicopter charter fleet active throughout the weekend. The PremiAir fleet is now fully utilized on race day itself and Saturday is almost at maximum capacity too, the company notes.

Interest in Formula One has reached new heights in the UK, with the success of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Other British F1 drivers looking to perform well in front of an enthusiastic home crowd are Honda's Jenson Button, Red Bull's David Coulthard and Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson.

“Travelling by helicopter to what is one of the highlights of the Season is a smart and hassle free way to experience Silverstone and our charter department has been swamped with enquiries. This is set to be our busiest Silverstone in five years,” confirmed David Langton, PremiAir’s Sales & Customer Service Manager. PremiAir has taken bookings for flights from the London Heliport in Battersea, from Denham in Buckinghamshire and a number of private sites including country hotels in Oxfordshire.

PremiAir’s Eurocopter AS355 Twin Squirrel and Sikorsky 76 four-seat executive VIP helicopters can be chartered for the remainder of the summer Season, including Glorious Goodwood and Cartier Polo. All enquiries should be directed to: PremiAir Charter Sales. Tel No: +44 (0) 1895 830900. Email: charter@premiair-aviation.com.

Editor’s Notes:

Established 25 years ago, PremiAir is the UK’s largest Executive Helicopter operating and charter company. It was purchased from the Sir Robert McAlpine Group by von Essen in 2007 and almost concurrently the Group ratified a complementary purchase of The London Heliport, which is managed and operated by PremiAir.

PremiAir flies approximately 4,000 charter hours a year with its modern fleet of Sikorsky 76s, Eurocopter Twin Squirrels and one Bell 222. It has 18 Executive Helicopters on management programmes, providing a turnkey service to the owner – either private companies or individuals.

PremiAir Aircraft Engineering, an FAA, EASA, CAA Part 145-approved organisation, is a Hawker Beechcraft Authorised Service Centre supporting the full range of Beechcraft products. For rotary wing support PremiAir is a Sikorsky Service Centre for the S76 (all models) and a Bell Customer Service Facility for Bell 222, 230 and 430. It is also one of the largest Eurocopter maintenance centres in Europe supporting EC155, AS365 Dauphin and AS355 Twin Squirrel. Also it provides for support services on the AgustaWestland 109 model range. PremiAir is also is a Pratt & Whitney Canada recognised maintenance facility and is a distributor for Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and numerous other equipment vendors.

PremiAir Aircraft Engineering boasts Part 21J and G design and manufacturer approvals for aircraft modifications. With a large and experienced design office team, the company provides full refurbishment and upgrade services on most executive helicopter types and a wide range of fixed wing aircraft .

PremiAir is a leading player in the provision of pilots to the UK Police Forces with contracts with 10 UK / Ireland Police Air Support units – both rotary and fixed wing operations.