Rotational crew logistics: helicopter or aeroplane

The task looks the same every time: deliver a crew to the site and bring them back in two weeks. What follows are the differences that decide everything.

The first question: is there a runway.

Where a concrete or gravel strip of sufficient length runs to the site, the calculation is done for an aeroplane. The flying hour is cheaper, the capacity is greater and the weather limits are more forgiving.

Where there is no runway and the landing area sits on the field itself, it is a helicopter. There is one alternative here: an aeroplane to the nearest aerodrome plus several hours on the winter road.

The second question: how many people and how often.

A crew of 20 once a fortnight is covered by a single Mi-8 flight or a light aeroplane.

A crew of 120 requires either several consecutive helicopter flights or a 50-seat aeroplane with onward transport on the ground.

What gets calculated is the cost of delivering one person to the site and back. The price of the flying hour is a second, separate figure. Those two figures lead to different decisions.

The third question: weather and daylight.

In winter in the north the daylight period is short. Helicopter operations in the mountains and on the coast are shut down by wind and low cloud more often than aeroplane operations.

A crew standing idle waiting on weather costs money. When planning a year ahead a reserve of days is built in: typically 10 to 20 per cent of flights shift.

The fourth question: what travels besides the people.

Tools, equipment, spares. The Mi-8 has a cargo cabin that takes outsized items and permits carriage on an external sling. A light aeroplane is limited by the dimensions of its door.

The Mi-8 cabin is 1.8 metres high and takes wheeled vehicles such as a UAZ; useful load inside the cabin and on the external sling reaches 4 tonnes, and 5 tonnes on the AMT and A2 versions. In 2024, as far as I know, the all-in cost of an Mi-8 flying hour sat at around 250,000 roubles, and the per-person delivery figure is built from that order of magnitude.

The combined arrangement

In practice a pairing often works: the aeroplane brings the rotation as far as the district aerodrome, the helicopter distributes it across the points. The trunk leg goes on the cheap hour, the short leg on the expensive one, and the expensive one stays short.

The economics are calculated across the full route, including the ground portion and the crew's time in transit.

What to have ready for the conversation with the operator

• The coordinates of the site and the landing area with its dimensions.
• The size of the crew and the rotation interval.
• The weight and dimensions of accompanying cargo.
• The client's requirements on delivery timing.
• Weather-limit data for the area from previous seasons.

With those five items the calculation takes a day. Without them the discussion stays in generalities.