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The purpose of the study is the evaluation of the efficiencies of a group of small Italian airports and the comparison with a set of transport heliports to show the difference in the productivity of the two types of infrastructures.

The methodology used for the evaluation is the data envelopment analysis (DEA).

The better performance of the heliports compared to the small inefficient airports.

This research is limited by the field of application and the weaknesses of the DEA methodology. However, it could be the first step for further works that will include more accurate models.

The study suggests the conversion of the small inefficient airports into heliports feeding traffic towards the major hubs. The use of helicopters to reach poor accessible areas represents an alternative mode of transport.

This is the first case of application of the DEA methodology to a group of heliports.

ALTHOUGH the armed forces have been quick to seize upon the opportunities offered by the versatile rotary‐wing aircraft, their widespread use for civil air transport has still to be effected. The main advantage of the helicopter—vertical take‐off and landing—has been substantially offset by a number of disadvantages —low cruising speed, safety restrictions for single‐engined rotorcraft, high operating costs and high noise levels—so that commercial application on a large scale has in general proved unattractive. However, the last two years have seen vast strides in the design of helicopters for civil operation, resulting principally from the high power to weight ratio of the turbine engine, and it seems likely that when a number of multi‐engined types becomes available during the ensuing years, this country will witness a boom in helicopter travel.

THE reason for using the helicopter in transport is neither its performance nor its own cost, but the nature and design of its operating site. To separate the two, as is sometimes done in discussions of comparative merits of helicopters and aeroplanes, is clearly a futile exercise.

The purpose of the study is to modify the plan of a network of heliport for HEMS, civil protection and transport proposed by the regional government through the combined use of linear programming and GIS techniques.

The methodology used for the evaluation is based on the application of a set covering model.

An optimal solution was obtained that allows savings in relation to the plan proposed by the regional government by ensuring the best coverage of the whole territory.

This research is limited by the field of application and the weaknesses of the linear programming techniques. However, it could be the first step for further works that will include more accurate models.

The study suggests the reorganization of the network of heliports; this would be a fundamental step to improve the services supplied by the helicopters, such as HEMS, civil protection, SAR, aerial work, firefighting and transport, especially in a region characterized by a poor accessibility.

This is the first study on the application of the combined use of open-source GIS software and OR methods for planning a heliport network.

This study aims to develop a methodology to compare the feasibility of helicopter and seaplane regular transport of passengers towards destinations across a remote regional tourist context, where a lack of road and rail infrastructure make these alternative forms of air transport competitive.

The authors use a modal split model identifying the quota of passengers that potentially could utilize these two types of services, determined on the basis of previous studies on air transport demand. A technical analysis regarding transport supply is performed to identify the predominant features that should characterize helicopter/seaplane performances. An optimization model is applied to identify the routes that could overcome the breakeven point considering each of the two means of transport. The paper also takes into account the importance of each type of service and its influence on flight infrastructure costs.

Helicopter and seaplane services could improve the access for tourists with high values of time. The helicopter transport could capture a market share ranging from 5 to 20 per cent of tourist travel demand (the amphibian seaplane from 1 to 14 per cent). The shuttle services could be profitable especially for those regional origin–destination pairs involving the two major airports and the most UNESCO visited locations such as Agrigento and the Aeolian Archipelago (into the analyzed context of Sicily). The comparison between the two modes of transport shows that the helicopter has best performances and the seaplane has to land/take-off from sea.

The lack of data on the performances of the whole world production of seaplanes and helicopters (such as Russian, Chinese or US old machines) could give a distortion of the result. On the other hand, all mostly used machines in the world at the moment are considered. A survey on the fear of flight and on the choice between the two different forms of air transport could give a more precise result.

From an economic point of view, an operator could choose with more confidence the means of transport to use under different conditions. The activation of passenger services with seaplanes and helicopters can give an impulse to the growth of little operators and to the tourism. So, this study could be a starting point for authorities to plan a regional network of little general aviation airfields and seadromes (located in the great lakes or near the ports) near the major tourist locations. It could make possible to develop a synergic regional commuting traffic involving the seaplane and the helicopter.

Seaplanes and helicopters represent the most important means of transport when poor accessibility conditions and need of ready and fast connections coexist, for example, the commuting between airports and remote regions or downtowns with high tourist or business impact. The activation of passenger services with seaplanes and helicopters can give an impulse to the growth of little operators and to the tourism, consequently to the regional accessibility and economy.

There is a lack of studies involving the comparison between seaplanes and helicopters. This study could represent an important means to analyze the parameters that influence the possibility of activation for this kind of services and to find the factors that influence the feasibility of business with the two different machines. The encouraging performances of the flying boat suggest a future development of an innovative model of medium- and/or high-capacity amphibian seaplane dedicated to passenger transport. It should have take-off/landing performances less dependent on the sea state.

In the Norwegian offshore oil industry, helicopters have been used as a major mode of transporting personnel to and from offshore installations for decades. Helicopter transportation represents one of the major risks for offshore employees. The purpose of this paper is to study the safety of helicopter transportation in terms of the expected number of fatalities on an operational planning level.

Based on an analysis of helicopter accidents, this paper proposes a mathematical model that can aid in the planning of routes for the fleet in order to minimize the expected number of fatalities.

A theorem proven in this paper tells that hub-and-spoke configuration is the best way of routing helicopters in terms of minimizing expected number of fatalities. Computational results indicate that the expected number of fatalities may be reduced at the expense of longer travel time by implementing the proposed method into planning of routes for helicopter fleet.

The main limitation is the present inability to solve large problem instances.

The suggested tool is able to provide decision makers with a set of solutions from which they can choose the one with the best trade-off between travel time and transportation safety.

The mathematical model and theoretical results for route planning with a safety-based objective are original.

SERIOUS consideration is being given to the more extended use of helicopters for travel into city centres, and the use of more sophisticated vertical take‐off and landing aircraft is a more distant but nevertheless discernible prospect. A report of the Committee on the Planning of Helicopter Stations in the London Area, which was set up by the Minister of Aviation in 1959, drew the following conclusions: (i) the noise level of helicopters cruising at about 1,000 ft. should not be greater than that of traffic in a busy street but would be spread over a greater area, and (ii) the greatest noise will be heard in the immediate vicinity of the heliport and beneath the take‐off and approach paths within half a mile of the pad.

British European Airways has made major changes in its Group organisation. The new B.E.A. Group structure is the second stage of a re‐organisation plan started in 1967. Its principal aims are to establish a more fully developed Group management structure and to create a number of effective ‘profit‐centres’ based on specific aircraft fleets which combine both production and marketing activities within the same unit.