This is a list of helicopter airlines. These are airlines which provide transport for passengers or cargo, or both, with fleets that comprise a significant proportion of helicopters.
Some companies focus solely on winning ongoing contracts in a single industry sector, such as oil & gas. Other companies cater to a wider range of clients by offering one-off charter flights on an ad hoc basis. Services can include:
Aid – disaster relief, humanitarian aid.
Agriculture – crop dusting, game monitoring, hydroseeding, livestock mustering, pest control, wildlife management.
Firefighting – helicopter bucket, helitack.
Flight training
Forestry – heli-logging, stream restoration.
Freight – aerial crane, airdrop; general cargo and mail delivery in remote areas.
Industrial – construction, inspection and maintenance of overhead power lines, pipelines, mobile phone towers, offshore wind farms, hydropower facilities, and other infrastructure.
Maritime – pilot transfer and other ship-to-shore transport.
Medical – air ambulance, medical evacuation.
Military – aeromedical evacuation, pilot training; airlift, vertical replenishment and other logistical support.
Oil & gas – transporting crews to and from offshore platforms.
Passenger – VIP & corporate charter; scheduled flights from remote areas.
Photography – aerial photography, archaeology, film production, photogrammetry, television news reporting.
Science – water sampling, wildlife monitoring, snow radar, support to research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Search & rescue – air-sea rescue, mountain rescue.
Surveillance – border control, coast guard, police.
Survey – aeromagnetic, mineral exploration, reflection seismology.
Tourism – sightseeing tours, heliskiing.
These are companies which do not qualify as airlines, strictly speaking, because they specialise in services other than the transport of passengers and cargo.
