Southern Lakes Helicopters

Southern Lakes Helicopters is a New Zealand helicopter operator based in Te Anau, Fiordland, with a second base at Aoraki / Mount Cook Airport. It was established by Sir Richard Hayes in 1982, initially for helicopter deer recovery. The business remains family-owned and operated, with Sir Richard's son Michael Hayes now owning and running the company. The site describes more than 45 years of local operation in Fiordland.

Scenic flights

• Te Anau and Fiordland: flights to Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound and Milford Sound, and a Fiordland heli hike with a landing on Mount Luxmore on the Kepler Track
• Aoraki / Mt Cook: the Ultimate flight across the main divide to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers with a snow landing on the Tasman Glacier, and the Aoraki Panorama flight

Private charter and commercial work

• Kepler Track pack transfers, hunting and fishing transport, weddings and elopements
• Fire fighting, medical helicopter rescue, and search and rescue, working with the ambulance service, Rescue Coordination Centre, NZ Police, Hato Hone St John and local land and marine rescue teams
• Construction and transport, lifting and heavy loads
• Aerial photography and filming
• Support for science, conservation and logistics in the subantarctic, Antarctica and the Fiordland and Aoraki Mt Cook National Parks

Fleet

• Airbus BK-117 twin engine: 3 aircraft, 7 to 9 passengers
• Airbus H125 / AS350 B3 Squirrel: 4 aircraft, 5 to 6 passengers
• Airbus H130 T2: 1 aircraft, 7 passengers
• Airbus H120B: 1 aircraft, 4 passengers

The company says it was among the first helicopter operators to use night vision goggles and has introduced satellite aircraft tracking and onboard flight data recorders.