The vision to give Seychelles an Helicopter Service was that of Mr Fred Keeley, the South African magnate who is also the owner of Cousine Island and other local companies like Gondwana Granite, Gondwana Plant and Seychelles Shipping Line.
It was in June 1992 that Mr Keeley brought Captain Vic Davies with one helicopter to start the business. Eight years later, Helicopter Seychelles has not only become an integral part of the Seychelles tourism industry but also resource for the provision of advertising materials (aerial photography), medical evacuation, construction (transporting loads in inaccessible area) and Search and Rescue at sea.
Helicopter transfers to Silhouette Island was the company's first major breakthrough. Both transfers to the Island are long, taking between one-and-a-half hours, not to mention the fact that from an international flight one must still travel to Port Victoria, thus Helicopter Seychelles replace a tedious 3 hours journey with a beautiful 15 minutes scenic flight.
Over the last eight years Captain Davies, with the backing of Gondwana Enterprises Ltd led by Dr. Selwyn Gendron, has built up a team of expatriate pilots, engineers and a Seychellois staff who are all proud to be part of the Company. Few days ago, the staff gathered together in a social reception at the Coral Strand Hotel to bid farewell to Captain and Mrs Davies, who are leaving the Company shortly for domestic reasons bound for Ireland.
The new man stepping in Captain Davies shoes, as Managing Director of the Company is Captain Rick Dooley who spoke to the Review in an exclusive interview.
Questioned on the helicopters used, Captain Davies commented, "We chose the Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter for it reliability and maintainability. It seats the pilot plus four passengers with substantial baggage space. Being the most widely used commercial helicopter speaks for itself, over 8,000 aircraft having been produced to date.
Because most of our flying is over the sea, we are equipped with floatation gear which folds neatly into pockets mounted on the skids and has minimal effect on performance. Due to the popularity of the aircraft, spare parts can be obtained from Mauritius, Kenya, South Africa or Europe an almost any day of the week."

On the question of Customer Services he said that behind safety, the company's top priority is customer service. "To a large degree, we have been successful in this area but not happy with that, we continue to strive for excellence," Cap Davies continues "Scenic flights are very popular and underline the beauty of these islands. They are offered in both charter and shuttle formats and should not be missed.
La Digue, Felicite and Silhouette Islands that are equipped with tourism establishments but without runways. We provide a comprehensive mix of charter and shuttle services to these islands.
Inner Islands equipped with runways also make substantial use of our services where other air services are not practical or simply because people prefer to fly in an helicopter.
Helicopter Seychelles is proud of the emergency capability we have added to the country, providing medical evacuation and assistance in Search and Rescue.
We do external load work for the construction for buildings and masts in isolated parts of Seychelles, an activity in which we have developed an enviable reputation.
Possibly the most important contribution we have made to Seychelles is that of providing the ultimate platform for photography and filming. If not for our helicopters, Seychelles would not be able to attract film producers to make advertisements and the country would have much less and inferior material to show off these beautiful islands."
On the question of safety, Captain Dooley stated, "Our first priority is of course safety. We have a comprehensive safety program in place from the beginning, which under the management of our Safety Officer who is an experienced pilot, has ensured a clean safety record. We have flown nearly 11,000 hours over the past eight years without a reportable incident or accident - an enviable track record and one we intend keeping."
A few days ago, Helicopter Seychelles acquired its third helicopter. It is understood that this became necessary in the light of demand created by Frégate Island Private, Lémuria Resort and other exclusive destinations.