Service Update: 1st July 2023

An update from Dr Simon Mitchell, Managing Director of Starspeed Ltd – operators of Penzance Helicopters – 1st July 2023

I wanted to provide a full and frank update on the situation with the Penzance Helicopters service after the recent service disruption.

What is the current status of the aircraft?

Our primary aircraft, G-PNZE, experienced a technical fault that took far longer than expected to fix. This issue is now fully resolved. However, a further system fault during ground tests yesterday delayed the aircraft's departure from our maintenance base. We are in contact with the aircraft manufacturer, whose engineers are supporting us in resolving this remaining fault.

Our secondary aircraft, G-IOSH, was delayed in arriving in the UK due to global factors beyond our control. Subsequent customs checks and the rightly stringent nature of our highly regulated industry have meant it has taken longer than expected to get this aircraft into operation.

We are working with our engineering team to get both aircraft back in service as soon as safely and legally possible. We are confident that we will have at least one – and possibly both – aircraft operational at Penzance by the end of next week (Saturday, 8th July). If this situation changes, we will provide further updates as soon as we have helpful information to share.

What are my options if I'm due to travel with you soon?

If you are flying with us within the next week (up to and including Saturday, 8th July), we will contact you if there is likely to be a disruption to your flight.

We have already contacted all passengers due to fly with us on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th July. Passengers are offered the option of (a) making alternative travel arrangements and cancelling their trip with us for a full refund or (b) continuing their travel plans with us, and if we cannot operate their flight, we will make alternative travel arrangements on their behalf. We continue to work to source temporary aircraft, or this may be alternate air or sea travel.

While we are confident we will resume operations next week, to provide clarity and allow passengers to make changes to their travel plans, any passenger travelling with us up to and including Saturday, 8th July, now has the above options open to them.

If you wish to make alternative arrangements, we strongly recommend confirming these before contacting us for a refund. Please note that if you take this option, you must make any required transfer arrangements. Please don't forget to let your accommodation provider know your new travel plans. To let us know if you are taking this option and to request your refund, please email info@penzancehelicopters.co.uk, as our phone lines are extremely busy.

When will you provide further updates?

We will keep the situation under review for passengers booked beyond Saturday, 8th July.

If this disruption caused by engineering issues continues, we will offer passengers the same options outlined above on a 7-day rolling basis. In other words, within seven days of your flight, if there is still a risk that we will not have our aircraft in place, you can make your own arrangements and cancel your flight for a full refund, should you wish.

Passengers will be emailed any flight-specific updates, and we will post more general updates on this page. Please add our email address (info@penzancehelicopters.co.uk) to your safe senders list to ensure you receive our updates promptly.

We kindly request that you do not contact us for flight-specific updates now, as we can only repeat the information we have provided above.

If you need to contact us, we would recommend emailing us at info@penzancehelicopters.co.uk as our phone lines are extremely busy as we contact passengers flying over the next few days.

I want to express my gratitude to our travel partners, the teams at Penzance, Tresco, and St Mary's, our industry colleagues, and most importantly, our passengers for their ongoing patience and support.

We are doing everything in our power to end this period of disruption as quickly as possible while always prioritising safety. In the meantime, we commit to providing our passengers with clearer and more timely communication in the future. We are acutely aware of the upset and anxiety that these issues are causing our passengers. I can only reiterate my absolute and sincere apology and reassure you that we are doing everything possible to get our aircraft in service as soon – and as safely – as possible.

These problems will not be repeated because these are issues about introducing aircraft to service. Once they are in service, we are much more able to manage the maintenance planning. We ask people to keep their faith with us. We absolutely care about this service, the islands, their residents and visitors, and we remain fully committed to rebuilding the service they deserve.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr Simon Mitchell
Managing Director, Starspeed Ltd