Heli-TV SA

Heli-TV SA is a helicopter company with its seat at Lodrino airport in Ticino, Switzerland. It offers passenger, cargo and aerial work services and states that it has been serving customers since 1984.

History

The company was formed at the end of the 1970s in the canton of Fribourg and was bought in 1984 by Giovanni Frapolli. It was first based at Lugano-Agno airport, and since 1994 at the military airport of Lodrino, with its head office there since 1996. It has about 40 full time employees, and its stated aims are training young Ticino pilots and assistants and staying independent of competing firms.

Flight operations

Heli-TV says it is active 365 days a year with a 24 hour on-call service. Its operations centre plans and coordinates:

• Transport of people and VIPs
• Transport of material of all kinds
• Timber extraction
• Assembly and removal of cranes and prefabricated structures
• Power line inspection
• Firefighting
• Animal rescue

For heavy lifting the company uses two Bell 205 A1++ helicopters, which it describes as the only helicopter of this category operating in Europe, lifting up to 2,000 kg in alpine and urban settings.

Flight school and aeronautical centre

The flight school is shared with EOS Helicopter and Air Evolution, and trains private and commercial pilots to EASA rules on a Robinson R22 Beta II and an EC120B Colibri. At Lodrino the aeronautical centre has a snack bar, a hall with more than 80 seats and a 420 square metre hangar, and Heli-TV offers hangarage for helicopters and small aircraft. The company also runs a helicopter spare parts shop.