Helicopter charter in North West England

Where can you charter a helicopter in the North West?

Two big airports, one dedicated heliport and three regional airfields cover the region. Prior permission applies at each.

• Manchester Airport is open 24 hours with customs on site and two 3,050 m runways. It is slot-coordinated and a handling agent is mandatory. Manchester Heliport at Barton, covered on the same page, is the city's dedicated rotary facility five miles west of the centre, with a lounge, free parking and Monday to Thursday hours of 09:00 to 18:00 (Friday to Sunday to 19:00 or sunset). Rotary bookings are possible round the clock on request.
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport has a 24-hour airfield with customs on site and a 2,286 m runway. Aintree Racecourse helipad is a race-day-only site.
• Blackpool Airport opens 07:00 to 20:00. It has no de-icing facilities, so we plan winter flights carefully.
• Hawarden Airport in Flintshire serves Chester and Cheshire with a 2,093 m runway. It opens 08:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and shorter at weekends.
• Carlisle Lake District Airport serves Cumbria, open daily 09:00 to 17:00, suitable for helicopters and light turboprops.

How much time does a helicopter save in the North West?

Here the saving is clearest between cities, not just toward London. The figures are from our route data; road times are free-flowing, so real journeys are slower.

• Liverpool to Manchester takes about 15 to 20 minutes by helicopter, against about 1 hour 4 minutes by road.
• Manchester Heliport to Liverpool takes about 15 to 20 minutes, against about 40 minutes.
• Manchester Heliport to Leeds takes about 20 to 25 minutes, against about 1 hour 7 minutes.
• Blackpool to Manchester takes about 20 to 25 minutes, against about 1 hour 29 minutes.
• Carlisle to Newcastle takes about 25 to 30 minutes, against about 1 hour 26 minutes.
• Manchester Heliport to London takes about 65 to 80 minutes, against about 4 hours 1 minute.

See London to Manchester, London to Liverpool and Manchester to Edinburgh for route detail, and the journey times article for the method.

What do people in the North West fly for?

Manchester is the largest business centre outside London, with financial, media, legal and life-science sectors, while Liverpool has maritime, insurance and creative industries and Cheshire is home to major manufacturing, including the aircraft wing plant beside Hawarden. A morning meeting in Leeds and an afternoon in Birmingham is a classic same-day business trip; our business helicopter charter page explains the planning.

Events draw heavily. The Grand National at Aintree has an escorted race-day helipad, and the football grounds at Old Trafford, the Etihad and Anfield are all on our events hub. Landing at a stadium or racecourse is subject to permission and site suitability.

Cumbria and Lancashire have shooting and field-sports estates; read shooting by helicopter for how we handle the carriage rules. For people who need a planned, low-profile transfer, see secure helicopter transport.

North West city pages

Each page covers its sites, hours and routes: Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool, Chester and Carlisle. Chester is served from North Wales; see Wales for that side of the border.

Next door: Yorkshire and the Humber is across the Pennines, North East England lies beyond Carlisle, the Midlands is south, and the Isle of Man is covered on the Channel Islands and Isle of Man page. Across the Irish Sea, see Northern Ireland. And for the national guide, helicopter charter UK.

Planning notes for northern weather and hills

Upland weather affects the Pennines and Cumbria more than the plains of Cheshire and Lancashire. Low cloud can close a route that looks clear on the map, so we plan an alternative landing site for important trips and check the forecast in the lead-up. If the flight is cancelled because of the weather, you pay nothing. Winter operations also matter at Blackpool, which has no de-icing facilities. For everything else, the UK heliports and airfields directory lists every site in the region with its published hours. In short, helicopter charter north west works best city to city, where the road is slowest.

More events and routes in the North West

Chester Racecourse has its own event page. The Manchester route pages are Manchester to Liverpool, Manchester to Leeds and Manchester to Newcastle, and across the Pennines there is Leeds to Liverpool.