Behind the Scenes of a Helicopter Charter to Mykonos

This helicopter charter from Crete to Mykonos began with a phone call late on a Sunday. Four passengers needed to reach Mykonos the next morning, departing at around 10 a.m.

It was a last-minute request, but the initial itinerary was relatively straightforward. We sourced a Bell 407 for the flight, departing from Heraklion Airport and arriving at a helipad in Mykonos.

It was the first of several changes before departure. The passengers' objective stayed simple: get from Crete to Mykonos as easily as possible. But every change meant checking what could actually be done, then rearranging the plan around it.

Can the helicopter pick us up from the hotel?

After receiving the original proposal, the client asked whether the helicopter could pick them up near their hotel instead of at Heraklion Airport.

This kind of flexibility is what makes helicopter charter a convenient choice for many people visiting Greece. Depending on the destination, there are approved departure points outside the airports. But a helicopter cannot take off from just anywhere.

We checked the requested spot and it had no approved landing site, so the passengers departed from Heraklion Airport as originally planned.

The arrival point changed too. Instead of the helipad in our initial plan, the passengers now wanted to land at the Nammos helipad. We agreed the change with the operator and added it to the revised flight schedule.

It is worth knowing when you arrange a helicopter charter in Greece: where there is an approved pad, you can often land closer to a hotel, villa, yacht or beach club.

Then came the luggage

Before departure, we asked for passenger weights and baggage details so the operator could plan the load. We were told to assume about 75 kg per passenger, with four suitcases and two or three small carry-on bags.

On a helicopter, those details matter a great deal. There is far less luggage space than on most private jets, and a free seat does not mean there is room for that passenger's bags.

On the day, the four passengers arrived with more baggage than expected: four large suitcases and five smaller bags. The operator tried to fit every item, but for safety reasons one suitcase could not go: it did not fit in the storage compartments.

The passengers could leave on time. One suitcase could not.

Finding another way to Mykonos

The helicopter left on schedule, and our job carried on well beyond the flight. The client wanted the remaining suitcase in Mykonos as efficiently as possible, so we needed a new plan.

There were two options: a second helicopter just for the luggage, or the ferry. With no suitable helicopter available at short notice, the ferry was the better choice.

We checked the ferry departures. The early Monday ferry from Heraklion had already left, and the next one sailed the following morning. The client agreed to delivery by ferry.

By now the charter was about much more than flying a helicopter to Mykonos. There was ground transport to arrange, a ferry schedule to work with, two islands and a lot of people to coordinate.

Getting one suitcase across the Aegean

First, the suitcase had to reach the ferry. We found the right person among our ground transport partners in Crete. He was based near Chania, so agreeing to help meant driving across the island.

We coordinated with the handling team at Heraklion Airport and gave them our driver's details. Collecting the bag from the airport was the first step.

Next we needed someone to take the suitcase onto the ferry, and someone in Mykonos to receive it and take it to the hotel. We coordinated the driver in Crete, the ferry's first officer, one of our ground transport partners in Mykonos and the hotel reception.

The driver collected the suitcase from Heraklion Airport and handed it over for the ferry crossing. Once it reached Mykonos, our local driver picked it up.

Even then, the plan changed once more. The client first asked us to deliver the suitcase to Nammos, then changed the delivery point to their hotel. We adjusted again, and the suitcase was delivered to the hotel reception.

Why local knowledge matters in Greece

From the passenger's side, booking a helicopter charter sounds simple. There is a departure point, a destination, a date and a number of passengers. An aircraft is sourced, the charter is confirmed and the helicopter flies.

In practice, a lot more happens around it. On this charter we assessed an alternative departure point, changed the arrival helipad, worked with the operator on an unexpectedly large baggage load, and organised the whole journey for the suitcase left behind.

Our relationships with ground partners in Crete and Mykonos are what made that possible. Those contacts matter in Greece, where a helicopter trip often involves airports, approved helipads, hotels, villas, marinas, ground transport and inter-island transfers. The aircraft is only one part of the journey.

What passengers should know about helicopter luggage

Limited baggage allowances are one of the main things that can complicate a helicopter charter in Greece. Giving precise baggage numbers when you book is one of the easiest ways to avoid problems.

But numbers alone do not always tell the whole story. Four compact suitcases are very different from four large hard-shell cases, and carry-on bags, backpacks and other personal items also take up valuable space.

For a helicopter charter, the desk needs the number of bags, their approximate size and their weight. If a bag is unusually large, a photo helps. Passenger weights matter just as much.

This information lets the operator plan the flight correctly and helps us spot baggage limits before anyone reaches the departure point. For groups travelling with a lot of luggage, it can also change which helicopter is sent. Our guide to luggage on a helicopter explains how the weight limit works.

The flight is only part of the journey

This charter shows exactly that. The departure point was questioned, the landing point changed, the extra baggage needed its own plan, and the final delivery address changed twice.

The four passengers reached Mykonos by helicopter as planned. The last suitcase followed by road across Crete, by ferry to Mykonos, and by road again to the hotel reception.

For the passengers, that was the whole trip. Behind it sat a helicopter operator, airport handling contacts, a ferry crew and reliable people at both ends. That is an important part of what we provide when arranging helicopter charter in Greece, even when the passenger never sees it.