Story ID: 486
Payerne Airport Gets Business Helicopter Service
By: Amy Laboda
Caption: Growing a new business aviation airpark from a military airfield isn't easy, but Speedwings Business is partnering up to make it happen.
Word Count: 298
Speedwings Business SA (Booth F55) and Bamberg-based BHS Helicopterservice GmbH with its subsidiary DC Aviation Switzerland of Zurich signed a letter of intent to cooperate on Tuesday at EBACE in Geneva. The partnership adds business helicopter flights and helicopter management by BHS to the services available at Switzerland's Payerne Airport.

The airport, a joint military-commercial operation with the Swiss Air Force, has a main terminal building that opened for general aviation at the end of March and is operated by Speedwings. It also has a 6,600-sq-m hangar capable of holding heavy business jets and 3,300 sq m of office space. The terminal offers passenger and crew lounges, as well as office space, conference rooms, and four hotel rooms for crewmembers.

“We are happy to be a part of the growth of the 40-hectare business aviation and industrial airpark that is rapidly expanding here at Payerne,” Payerne site director Mathieu Piller told AIN. “There are already a couple of aviation-related industrial businesses coming in to develop the park, and we know that companies with business in the area between Lausanne and Bern and Payerne, where there is a lot of industry, will appreciate the simplicity for flying in and out, and the lower costs associated with flying into Payerne, instead of having to go farther from their destinations, to Zurich or Geneva, which are much more crowded.”

At the airport, Speedwings offers hangar leasing for aircraft, refueling, aircraft chartering, scheduling, and organization of business flights, in addition to providing the appropriate infrastructure for the flights. The company intends to offer helicopter services through its collaboration with BHS Helicopterservice/DC Aviation Switzerland. “This complements our growing portfolio and contributes to business development at the Payerne Airport,” said Damien Piller, president of Speedwings Business.