Nice to Monaco, seven minutes.
By car, on a Saturday in August, an hour and a quarter.
It holds for Monaco as much as for Porto Cervo, Capri, Courchevel and Portofino: where the jet can't reach, the final leg decides how the day goes. A helicopter is not a luxury but a tool — the only one that ignores the traffic, the ferry, the hairpin bend and the dirt track of the last kilometre. We arrange it in Sardinia, on the French Riviera, on the Amalfi Coast, on the lakes and across the Alps.
Four areas, the same sum.
How long it takes flying, how long it takes driving.
These are the areas where the helicopter works every day: Gallura, the French Riviera, the Italian coast and the Alps. The road times are the ones observed in high season — August on the coast, changeover Saturday in the mountains.
Sardinia — from Olbia airport
Actual flight times from Olbia Costa Smeralda, against road times in the first week of August.
| Destination | Distance | Helicopter | Car in high season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porto Cervo | 26 km · 14 NM | 10 min | 50–90 min | |
| Porto Rotondo | 15 km · 8 NM | — | 35–60 min | |
| Baja Sardinia | 25 km · 13 NM | 9 min | 55–95 min | |
| La Maddalena | 36 km · 19 NM | — | traghetto obbligatorio | |
| San Teodoro | 18 km · 10 NM | 8 min | 40–70 min | |
| Cala di Volpe | 21 km · 11 NM | 8 min | 45–80 min | |
| Golfo Aranci | 14 km · 8 NM | 6 min | 25–45 min | |
| Su Gologone, Oliena | 68 km · 37 NM | 20 min | 110–130 min |
At Porto Rotondo and La Maddalena the helipads were struck off in March 2026 (ENAC register): the last leg is by car, and by ferry for La Maddalena.
The French and Italian Riviera — from Nice
Nice Côte d'Azur is the second busiest heliport in Europe. The link with Monaco is the most flown on the continent: the Principality has no airport, and in July the Basse Corniche doesn't move.
| Destination | Distance | Helicopter | Car in high season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monaco · Monte-Carlo | 18 km · 10 NM | 7 min | 35–75 min |
| Cannes | 20 km · 11 NM | 8 min | 40–90 min |
| Saint-Tropez | 64 km · 35 NM | 19 min | 105–180 min |
| Cap d’Antibes | 11 km · 6 NM | 6 min | 30–60 min |
| Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat | 10 km · 5 NM | 5 min | 25–50 min |
| Mentone | 26 km · 14 NM | 9 min | 45–80 min |
| Sanremo | 48 km · 26 NM | 15 min | 60–100 min |
Italy — from the nearest airfield
Capri, Positano, Portofino and Ponza have no runway, and Lake Como has no airport on the water. Here the helicopter doesn't save time: it is what makes the connection exist at all.
| Destination | From | Helicopter | Car in high season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capri | Napoli · 20 NM | 12 min | traghetto obbligatorio |
| Ischia | Napoli · 17 NM | 11 min | traghetto obbligatorio |
| Positano | Napoli · 18 NM | 11 min | 90–150 min |
| Ravello | Salerno · 14 NM | 9 min | 50–85 min |
| Portofino | Genova · 17 NM | 11 min | 45–90 min |
| Lago di Como · Cernobbio | Milano Linate · 25 NM | 15 min | 60–110 min |
| Forte dei Marmi | Pisa · 19 NM | 12 min | 40–70 min |
| Ponza | Roma Ciampino · 56 NM | 29 min | traghetto obbligatorio |
| Cortina d’Ampezzo | Venezia · 63 NM | 32 min | 150–210 min |
The Alps and snow — winter changes everything
On changeover Saturday the road into the Tarentaise is at a standstill from Albertville upwards. Courchevel has an altiport that takes no jets, and Zermatt allows no cars: the helicopter is the part of the journey nothing else can replace.
| Destination | From | Helicopter | By car on Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courchevel | Ginevra · 55 NM | 35 min | 165–270 min |
| Megève | Ginevra · 34 NM | 25 min | 70–120 min |
| Gstaad | Ginevra · 50 NM | 40 min | 110–160 min |
| Val d’Isère | Chambéry · 48 NM | 35 min | 130–190 min |
| Verbier | Sion · 8 NM | 15 min | 45–75 min |
| Zermatt | Sion · 21 NM | 10 min | località senza auto |
| Davos | Zurigo · 66 NM | 33 min | 130–180 min |
And then the islands. Formentera is 7 minutes' flying from Ibiza instead of a ferry, Hydra 22 from Athens, Panarea a little over half an hour from Catania. The rule is the same everywhere: if a place has no runway or no road, that is its airport.
⚠️ Times are indicative. On the alpine legs the minutes are the ones published by the operators (Alpes Hélico, AeroAffaires), route by route. On the others they are our own calculation: great-circle distance at average cruising speed, boarding not included. You do not fly straight over mountains, and different operators publish different figures for the same leg — Geneva–Courchevel runs from 25 to 35 minutes. What counts is the time written in your quote. Road times are observed, not guaranteed.
Six jobs only a helicopter can do.
The jet's last leg
The jet drops you at the nearest usable airport — Olbia, Nice, Naples, Geneva — and the helicopter takes you where the jet can't go. It is the leg that makes the whole journey make sense, and the one people remember afterwards.
From the yacht to shore and back
Boat at anchor, guests arriving and leaving, crew changes, dinner ashore without moving the vessel. With a helideck on board, or an approach to a coastal heliport.
The scenic flight
The Maddalena archipelago and the Gulf of Orosei, the Amalfi Coast from Punta Campanella, the Calanques de Piana, Mont Blanc at cruising height: twenty or forty minutes worth more than a whole day, and you fit them in before dinner.
The arrival that stays in the photos
Weddings, anniversaries, milestone birthdays. Landing on a villa's lawn isn't a scene from a film: it is paperwork, a permit and a qualified pilot. We handle the first two.
The worksite and the island
Site inspections, aerial filming, moving technicians to awkward sites, installations at altitude, links to the smaller islands when the sea is too rough to sail. Less romantic, far more frequent than it sounds.
The evening return
Dinner in Porto Cervo and a flight out of Olbia the next morning, or dinner in Monte-Carlo and an eight o'clock departure from Nice: without a helicopter that means getting up at five. With one, you sleep.
Five real limits.
We'd rather name them now.
- Luggage is the real constraint. On a light single-engine helicopter we're talking soft bags, not hard cases: the hold is about as wide as the boot of a small car. With holiday suitcases you need a bigger machine, or a car that takes them separately.
- The weather decides. Strong wind, low fog or poor visibility ground a helicopter before they ground a jet. In Sardinia the winter mistral and the early-morning fog in Gallura are the two most frequent causes.
- Darkness isn't a given. Flying after sunset requires a rating, instrumentation and sometimes a second pilot. It can be done, but it has to be planned: it isn't decided on the spot.
- Landing at a villa needs a permit. Having the lawn isn't enough. You need the owner's authorisation, a survey of the area and in some cases a clearance: two or three days ahead, not two hours.
- Over 280 km it stops making sense. Beyond that distance a turboprop gets there sooner and costs less. If you ask us, we'll tell you — even if you'd already have bought the helicopter from us.
Single-engine or twin.
It isn't a matter of taste.
A twin costs more and is needed for long legs over water, for night flying, or when the client's internal procedures require it. On a ten-minute daytime transfer a single does exactly the same job.
Three to six passengers
- Robinson R44 and R66 — 3–4 seats, the cheapest option for short transfers. Minimal luggage, soft bags only.
- Airbus H125 and H130 — 5–7 seats, the workhorse of the Mediterranean: dependable in wind, roomy cabin, good visibility for scenic flights.
- Bell 407 and AW119 Koala — 6–7 seats, faster and with more range, for when the transfer becomes a real leg.
Six to thirteen passengers
- AW109 Grand and Power — 6–7 seats in VIP configuration, the helicopter most used for ship-to-shore on the Costa Smeralda.
- Airbus H145 and Bell 429 — 7–9 seats, tall cabin and side door: easier with luggage and with less agile passengers.
- AW139 and H155 — 8–15 seats, the category for large yachts and groups. It needs a helideck or a properly equipped heliport.
Type the name of the place.
If it has no runway, we already know.
The booking tool recognises on its own the twenty-eight places in our archive where the jet does not land, and puts the helicopter into the chain with the minutes and the price shown separately.