Helicopters

We’ve flown our guests to jungle-hemmed beaches and mountainous valleys that would take days, not minutes, to reach.

Helicopters are perhaps our favourite asset, a staple on any Cookson adventure for the ‘go-anywhere’ versatility they bring to your experience. From an expedition yacht, they also open up the possibility to explore inland and otherwise inaccessible regions.

We only use modern aircraft and the very best regional operators, ferrying helicopters across continents if required. With the unique nature of our adventures – often operating in icy or vertiginous locations, landing on superyacht helidecks and mountainsides – we enlist specialist pilots with years of experience.

A combination of unrivalled creativity and military backgrounds within the team mean we are consistently pushing the possibilities of rotor wing aircraft in adventure travel. On a recent safari, we utilised a formation of eight helicopters for a birthday celebration so that all guests had a window seat as they soared over Mount Kenya and herds of elephants on the African plains. And we’ve successfully run complex multi-aircraft trips off yachts in Antarctica. Wherever in the world and whatever the size of your group, we will source the right assets for you to explore by air safely and comfortably.

Up the adventure

For many, superyacht helipads are a way of arriving in style. For Cookson, they are an opportunity to explore. They open up the possibility to fly up snow-blanketed volcanic islands, being the the first to ski down its slopes to the sea, or deep inland to remote villages for unforgettable cultural exchanges.

Act in the spur of the moment

If your wildlife tracker receives a call to say a lion is feasting on a fresh kill nearby, having a helicopter on standby will lead you straight to the action. There’s delight in the unexpected, and your Cookson host will be on hand to jump on any opportunity as it arises.

Aiding conservation

Helicopters are a valuable conservation tool, and we often partner with local NGOs and national park rangers to create meaningful experiences that have a huge impact. Fly with dozens of juvenile Galápagos tortoises into calderas for release, count penguin colonies from the sky alongside ornithologists and land on impossible to reach glaciers to gather data with geologists.