Mr Richard Tse, Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Director

Luxury travel is riding on a new level of quality service and convenience and one company that understands that better than others is Sky Shuttle Helicopters Limited. The company, formerly known as Heli Express, or Heli Hong Kong even earlier, has 20 years of distinguished history providing premium cross-boundary helicopter shuttle services. It is the sole commercial helicopter operator of flights between Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen, PRC, as well as one of the largest commercial helicopter operators in the world, according to Richard Tse, the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Director.

Sky Shuttle operates an extensive range of helicopter services in the Pearl River Delta and transports more passengers than any other operator in the region.

 “We are indeed the world's leading helicopter operator with a daily flight schedule that is unmatched in terms of frequency when compared to others,” says Richard. “We operate 54 flights daily with services between Hong Kong and Macau departing every 30 minutes. We have also been operating 10 flights daily between Macau and Shenzhen for the last six years.”

 The recent rolling out of its new identity is part of Sky Shuttle’s visionary plan to expand its new passenger lounge, which will open in Q1 2009, and to build a dual-pad heliport facility with connecting taxiways. The entire project is projected to be completed by mid-2009.

 Richard says Sky Shuttle has placed an order for the purchase of six new helicopters, of which two are expected to enter into service in Q2 2009. The new aircraft are Agusta Westland (AW) 139. “They are Italian-made and are the most technologically advanced in the world at this moment in time.”

The new helicopters cost Sky Shuttle more than $600 million and are expected to gradually replace the current fleet of Sikorsky S76C+ helicopters. “The new helicopters will bear our new corporate colours. They are a very visual statement of where our company is, how we see ourselves and the premium service we provide to our customers.”

 His sentiment echoes Sky Shuttle’s long-serving maxim, ‘Travel Smart. Travel Fast.’ “There has always been a strong historical tie between Hong Kong and Macau, which is what fostered our group’s establishment. Plus the flight time between the two destinations is only 16 minutes,” says Richard. “So our focus is naturally on the mid to high end of the travel market. Our passengers are mostly corporate travelers, people who have businesses in Macau, casino guests or high-spending individuals who might be flying for leisure travel or special events.”

 While the core business is undoubtedly the cross-boundary helicopter service, Sky Shuttle has also branched out by offering tailor-made services such as private charter flights for business purposes or by groups for sightseeing. “For instance, a group of six foreign businessmen chartered a flight from Macau to Hong Kong earlier today,” Richard says, “but they could have just as easily chartered a flight from Macau International Airport to Hong Kong International Airport, or vice versa.”

 Richard divulges that whilst prestigious individuals or groups make up the majority of Sky Shuttle’s exclusive charters, they do occasionally receive unusual or special requests for specific events such as the Macau Grand Prix. “We have been working with Macau Grand Prix Committee for the last few years. They charter our flights for aerial filming the race from above, which requires a stringent set of rules for their equipment installation, thus different from our other charters.”

After launching its new brand identity, Sky Shuttle has reinforced its strategy of offering its passengers only the very best. Says Richard: “We are looking into developing a customer loyalty programme and enhancing our reservation and ticketing system to enable us to perfectly capture the preferences and patterns of our customers. We are also considering revising our flight timetable to suit the market demand.”

 However, more than hardware, Richard believes the company’s strength stems from their people – a group of skilled and dedicated professionals. “For the six new AW 139 helicopters, we are sending 60 pilots, engineers and maintenance staff to Italy for training.” Working as an integrated team that shares a passion for excellence, Sky Shuttle’s pilots and engineers possess a wealth of experience in all facets of the helicopter industry. “Our heliport operations staff also strive to offer service excellence simply because we want our customers to feel pampered,” Richard concludes.

PHILOSOPHY
Richard Tse has been involved in the aviation industry since 1991. He is a chartered accountant and chartered secretary and holds a Masters Degree of Commerce. His management philosophy is to strive for excellence in everything and to create value for stakeholders. He believes that people should be proactive, innovative and forward looking to fully meet or ideally surpass customers’ expectations

FAST FACTS

2008
•  Heli Express Limited was re-branded Sky Shuttle with the opening of its new passenger lounge at the Hong Kong Macau ferry terminal in Q1 2009 and upgrade of heliport facilities
2005
• Heli Express Limited took over commercial helicopter operations in Hong Kong
2002
• A new route between Macau and Shenzhen Baoan International Airport was launched
1998
• A partnership between East Asia Airlines Limited and Helicopters Hong Kong Limited was formed to create the largest commercial helicopter operation in the Pearl River Delta
1997
• Helicopters Hong Kong Limited was established to provide a diverse range of helicopter services in Hong Kong
1988
•  East Asia Airlines Limited was established to provide passenger helicopter services between Macau and Hong Kong