DominikBlasko

Hello Flyertalkers,



I thought I would share my memorable helicopter trip from the Faroe Islands. If you like hiking, the Faroe Islands are an excellent choice. If you like flying a helicopter while enjoying a stunning view and only pay EUR 30 for it, the Faroe Islands are the one and only choice. The most surprising part about this insane deal is that it is not a secret, you do not have to book months in advance or have one of the pilots as a family member. Quite the contrary, but let’s take it step by step. I also made a pretty nice video report, link is at the end of the article.








The Faroe Islands have an impressive helicopter network serving 11 heliports. The flights are carried out by the Faroese airline Atlantic Airways. Except the two Leonardo Agusta Westland AW139 helicopters for domestic flights the airline also operates 4 aircrafts from the Airbus A320 family to connect the islands with Copenhagen and other cities in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.

















WHY SO CHEAP?

As I found out, the primary purpose of using helicopters on the Faroe Islands is that they are a perfect means of transportation for Search and Rescue operations. The islands are connected by ferries and a modern, but intricate network of underwater tunnel roads. However, none compare to the speed and flexibility of helicopters. As such they are regarded as a necessity and receive subsidies according to Public Service Obligation (PSO) regulation, where “transport operators can be compensated or given exclusive rights by public authorities to provide public transport services which are in the general interest but would otherwise not be commercially viable.” It seems that when the aircrafts are not used for public service, they are allowed to carry paying passengers, being that Faroese citizens or foreign tourists.





BOOKING CONDITIONS

If you keep these 3 main booking rules in mind, you can plan a perfect flight itinerary.

1. You can only book one way flights, which means if you are not staying at your destination, you need to consider another means of transportation back, or fly back again booking a one way ticket for another day then your first flight.
2. Tickets can only be booked max 7 days in advance, for some destinations only 2 days in advance. This means some flexibility is necessary. In my case, I completely changed my plans from one day to the other and booked a ticket for the next day when I saw availability.
3. The bookings are done through their website and the helicopter booking system is only in Faroese language, although it is rather easy to figure it out and navigate through it. My impression was that their whole booking system was not overtly complex. Tickets can be changed or cancelled up to 24hours prior departure and It is possible to carry luggage up to 20kg.

Stora Dimun







MY FLIGHT

Frankly, I did not care where I would be flying, because even a forgotten road corner looks otherworldly on the Faroe Islands. As a true avgeek I was hoping to book their longest flight from Torshavn, where I was based. It turned out to be a flight to Frodba, located on the island of Suduroy, which just happened to have gorgeous hiking trails as well. The morning of my flight I walked to the heliport in Torshavn. They are easy to find, usually located close to roads and by the sea. The heliport terminal was a small green wooden cabin, which housed a very small waiting room with a TV screen playing the safety video for the flight, a toilet and a room for storage. An elderly gentleman stood in the room holding a paper list, checking the names of the passengers, checking our bags and giving out bag tags. We lined up close to the landing pad and waited. The helicopter landed, a few people debarked, we boarded and got our noise cancelling headsets. The turnaround of the machine was less than five minutes including loading of small cargo, mostly what seemed to be produce items. The flight could not have been more enjoyable with only slight jolts of turbulence, although the Faroe Islands are very windy in general. On the way we made a stop at the island of Stóra Dimun.



This stopover landing was an incredibly picturesque experience, like a movie scene. We landed close to what I would describe as “Little house on the prairie” on an isolated island. As we approached for landing, I spotted a tractor heading for the heliport. There were kids sitting on top of it with noise cancelling headsets on. When we landed, none of us got out, we just waited until the tractor driver unloaded the delivery from the backside of the helicopter, loaded it on the tractor and drove back to their farm while the kids waved to us. I just though to myself what an incredibly unique life they must have living on an isolated island, where one huge entertainment is when the helicopter arrives delivering the essentials. We took off again, flew above a very dramatic cliffside and after a 5 minute flight arrived at our destination of Frodba. Two friendly ladies offered me a ride to the starting point of the hiking trail at a place called Hvannhagi. I returned from my hike in the afternoon, spent some time at the local town cafe and headed for the ferry in the early evening and sailed back to Torshavn.


CONCLUSION

The Faroe Islands offers vistas that can satisfy the most demanding travellers, hikers and avgeeks. So if you belong in any of these groups, I can not recommend this place enough. The truth is, it is a fairly expensive destination, but the irony of it all is that you will find here possibly the cheapest helicopter network that is easily available for foreigners and tourists.


Check out my video of the whole flight experience

GregWTravels

Very cool. Amazing pictures and video. I had my first helicopter flights going from Austin to the Circuit of the Americas for the Formula One Grand Prix a couple years ago, and it was definitely more than 30 Euros per flight.

Faroe Islands is now definitely on my "places to go" list.

DominikBlasko

Wow. Your helicopter flight looked pretty cool. Although a different, yet still very impressive views. Don't miss the Faroe Islands. Although not a completely undiscovered destination anymore, it still feels very unique and the nature is out of this world.

strummerjones

Thanks for the trip report. I wasn’t aware of this travel option, though I probably couldn’t have taken advantage of it when I spent a long weekend there given the one-way restriction, but I will keep it in mind for future travels.

Arnur

Indeed, a very cool trip! I cannot wait to visit the Faroe Islands one day!

Another exciting PSO (= read, affordable) helicopter option are the multiple-daily flights from Foggia in the Puglia region of Italy to San Domino in the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic Sea. Those flights are operated by Alidaunia and cost about 60 Euros one-way (30 Euro for children under 11) in the high season (lower prices outside of the high season and for residents of the islands). During the high season, a day trip would be feasible and there is enough to do on San Domino (and neighboring San Nicola, a short boat ride away) to keep one entertained for the day. Fun fact: San Nicola also has a heliport operated by Alidaunia, but that is only used for special flights (Medevac etc.). The nearest airport with commercial flights would be Bari (BRI), I presume. Napoli is also about three hours away by car or bus from Foggia.


San Domino Heliport - about five minutes walking time from our hotel



San Domino Heliport even features a proper luggage belt - we had way more than the luggage allowance, but luckily the helicopter was not full


Arrival of the morning flight from Foggia at San Domino Heliport



Ready for departure


San Domino from the air, in the background San Nicola, the other populated island



Good bye Tremiti Islands!

MaxVO

Wow, it's a truly awesome adventure idea. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
Would you mind sharing more logistical details? Did you just visit those small islands as day trips? I'd guess that an island with only 10 inhabitants is not really equipped to shelter a visitor overnight. I recall from earlier TR's that the main island has quite a few AirBnB's available.
Did you use that as a base as well?

DominikBlasko

Hi Arnur,

this is great. Absolutely awesome pictures. I had no idea about this service, but people are reaching out with PSO flights they know about. I might actually write an article with a list of them. Thanks for this.

DominikBlasko

Hey MaxVO,

sure I can tell you a bit about it. I was mostly based in Torshavn. I am lucky to have some great Faroese friends, so I stayed at their places, but many private homes, even my friend was renting out rooms to tourists via AirBnb or booking.com. I actually didnt even go to the most popular spots that are constantly on Insta, or in the magazines, I was trying to find hiking trails close to Torshavn and later Leirvik, where I stayed at another friend's place. The advantage of the Faroe Islands is that there are hiking trails nearly everywhere and the nature is gorgeous everywhere. No matter where you are. Regarding the isolated island Stora Dimun. We just landed for 2 minutes to drop off supplies and continued our flight. I however did find online their website. it is storadimun.fo and they welcome some tourists. One of the houses next to the farm can accommodate a couple people. Check it out. As the helicopter only stops 3 times per week, you have to plan precisely when to arrive and depart. My pro tip for everyone that wants to visit the Faroe Islands is rent a car. The islands are connected with high quality roads and there is an extensive underwater tunnel network. You can get nearly everywhere easily. If you are interested I also have a video about 3 beautiful hikes that I did. If you check out this helicopter video, the hiking video will be a recommended one at the end. If you have any more questions, let me know Bests, Dominik

MaxVO

Thanks, Dominik. I checked out your hike videos and loved them! Everything was beautifully shot with well-matching mystical music, good editing, and light & tasteful special effects. I noticed from the credits that you composed the music as well -- so it's doubly impressive work!