Is Niagara Air Tours still open?

[jhbuckle]

Is Niagara Air Tours still open?

[CPLMike89]

Unfortunatly no, They folded and surrendered the O.C. seems that the helicopter tours have taken over where NAT left off at CYSN. Shame would have been a good place for low timers to build some pic time.

Mike W

[Highflyinpilot]

when did that happen, I had no idea?

[idratherbeflying]

It may have had something to do with them sending a Cessna 206 for the Pelee Island winter contract?!

They were supposed to have a Caravan, but I guess it did not make it onto their OC on time?

[jhbuckle]

Thanks for the info...strange that all their websites are still online.

[AlphaSierra]

I remember their operation quite well. I was dating a well off lady and living in Toronto, and one of our dates, we did the helo tour of Niagara Falls. $pectacular experience. The guys flying the helos were quite nice, this was before I got into aviation and one gave me an excellent briefing on the cockpit and instruments.

[The Mole]

Those guy fly around 200,000 people a year.

[Changes in Latitudes]

Bit of a difference between Niagara Air Tours and Niagara Helicopters.

[C-FABH]

It may have had something to do with them sending a Cessna 206 for the Pelee Island winter contract?!

They were supposed to have a Caravan, but I guess it did not make it onto their OC on time?

There was one registered to them for around half a year in 2009. Looks like it was since sold to a company in Manitoba.

http://www.niagaraairtours.com/content/view/33/41/

It is strange that the website is still online, however. I tried calling the published phone number and it is not in service.

[Changes in Latitudes]

The final owner was the previous of owner of All Canada Express (ACE), the 727 cargo operator. He owned the local fuel provider as well, but has since lost the rights to provide fuel in CYSN. He certainly didn't do the organization any justice.

Niagara Air Tours was quite the place in its day and a lot of aviators got a push in the right direction there. Their flight school had a few outstanding instructors along the way as well, its a shame they are no longer in business.

[CPLMike89]

About a year and a half ago I used to stop in on a regular basis and visit with the CP hoping for the eventual job offer. The 2 pilots that were there used to sit around waiting for the word from the owner to be dispatched on one of the contracts they had been promised. Unfortunatly deals fell through and things just didnt materialize as we all hoped they would under the new management.

Mike W

[warbirdpilot7]

About a year and a half ago I used to stop in on a regular basis and visit with the CP hoping for the eventual job offer. The 2 pilots that were there used to sit around waiting for the word from the owner to be dispatched on one of the contracts they had been promised. Unfortunatly deals fell through and things just didnt materialize as we all hoped they would under the new management.

Mike W

When I stopped in there during the summer of 2007, it was not busy at all. I remember it as a excellent flying day weatherwise, and the 2 pilots I saw were out in the parking lot playing ball hockey.

[bluenote]

Would a similar venture work today? Is it true that the helicopters carry 200,000 people a year today?

[pdw]

Would a similar venture work today? Is it true that the helicopters carry 200,000 people a year today?

National helicopters is now located where Niagara Air tours used to be, in the new terminal; that's at CYSN in Niagara/Niagara-on-the-Lake, approximately 7-8 miles north/north-west of Niagara Falls.

Niagara Helicopters Heli-pad is located only a mile or so from the Falls, a much shorter round trip. If anyone could reach that number it would be them.

[bluenote]

how long is that chopper ride, I hear it's only a few minutes long and not that cheap. I don't know the facts or prices. Niagara air tours with their cessnas gave longer sightseeing trips that went I think up the canal and that sort of thing. I wonder how popular that was. I guess with the chopper now in the terminal anybody else would be hard to operate using similar niagara air tour airplanes.

[pdw]

12 minutes.

Niagara Air Tours had a great thing going (the original owners, hard working). Lots of tourbuses were arranged on an ongoing basis during each tourist season, ... they would exhibit at shows in Quebec etc. After 911 it was increasingly noticeable that the business was not as strong, a gradual decline, and of course operating costs always increasing.

They had a good product, like you say: up the canal 5min to The Falls, a 10 minute flyby route, and then back down 5min along the river to NOTL .. the reverse when using rwy 06. They were able to accomodate tourbuses very efficiently, sometimes two or three lined up and could see them often coming and going along airport road or waiting to cross when we'd pass by on 55 Highway.

[I WAS Birddog]

October 10th 1998....probably the most profitable single day @ NAT ever. All 7 aircraft flew non-stop for 7 hours straight.
Good ole 'Cock-eye' was feverishly counting up his cash at the end of the day.

$22,000

Seems like yesterday all us drivers were in the back room on hot lazy summer days playing Nintendo's 007 Golden Eye for months on end only to be interrupted by the next bus to show up.

...time is a thief. Summer of 1998 will go down as being one of the best spent with aviation colleagues turned friends that are now scattered all over this planet.

Sad to see its doors closed. The "Big Top" has fallen.

PS: FOOOUR!!!

[tractor747]

October 10th 1998....probably the most profitable single day @ NAT ever. All 7 aircraft flew non-stop for 7 hours straight.
Good ole 'Cock-eye' was feverishly counting up his cash at the end of the day.

$22,000

Seems like yesterday all us drivers were in the back room on hot lazy summer days playing Nintendo's 007 Golden Eye for months on end only to be interrupted by the next bus to show up.

...time is a thief. Summer of 1998 will go down as being one of the best spent with aviation colleagues turned friends that are now scattered all over this planet.

Sad to see its doors closed. The "Big Top" has fallen.

PS: FOOOUR!!!

birddog, being a former pilot there would a similar venture type idea work there again flying tourists like niagara air tours or have things changed for the worse?
7 airplanes, wow! was it busy on average or did it have it's peaks.
thanks

[tractor747]

October 10th 1998....probably the most profitable single day @ NAT ever. All 7 aircraft flew non-stop for 7 hours straight.
Good ole 'Cock-eye' was feverishly counting up his cash at the end of the day.

$22,000

Seems like yesterday all us drivers were in the back room on hot lazy summer days playing Nintendo's 007 Golden Eye for months on end only to be interrupted by the next bus to show up.

...time is a thief. Summer of 1998 will go down as being one of the best spent with aviation colleagues turned friends that are now scattered all over this planet.

Sad to see its doors closed. The "Big Top" has fallen.

PS: FOOOUR!!!

birddog, being a former pilot there would a similar venture type idea work there again flying tourists like niagara air tours or have things changed for the worse?
7 airplanes, wow! was it busy on average or did it have it's peaks.
thanks

birddog I meant you being a former pilot not me, just to understand ourselves

[I WAS Birddog]

The economy has tanked. The logistics behind rebuilding such a specific niche operation would be challenging in a booming economy.

However anything is possible. It all depends on how much money you want to sink into a seasonal business and how long you budgeted to get into the black.
The idea of "Build it and they will come" is a romantic idea however I'd spend resources on proper professional marketing targeting tour operators.
Lots of wine and dine with the descision makers. Putting up a sign on the airport lawn isn't enough. Kick backs and under the table cash envelopes to the tour guides will keep the airplanes in the air.
Price of doing business.

OR......hot women on brass poles in the airport lobby

[NAT2]

Exactly as birddog has stated, the market just isn't there and it hasn't been remotely there since the global economy took a severe downturn in 2008. Even then our tourism numbers were nowhere near what they were during the late 90s when Birddog was raking it in (and the aircraft were at their cleanest). I mean look at the bellies on those planes, do you mutants know how much time I put into...and...calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean...Who's flying?

Where was I? Oh yes...
The numbers just don't justify it, the market isn't there. The tour guides also, do not profit from having their customer drive 20 minutes to an airport and spend 20 minutes in the air. They profit more from a 7 minute flight and then moving on to the next attraction in Niagara Falls. In that regard Niagara Helicopters has the market cornered and shares just a small slice of that with National (plus Rainbow across the boarder).

If you spent millions on marketing, a few nice aircraft and a decent facility you could make a minor dent in the walk-in traffic and perhaps even the tour guides, but you'd never recuperate the losses. The only way you could justify it was if you were to have a successful charter business (aka a pet unicorn ) and ran some scenic stuff on the side. Not going to happen, its been tried. Just don't.

I'm still quite grateful for the time I got to spend there cutting my teeth. It was the foundation for a very rewarding career and I'm certain that I wouldn't have done as well as I have without having worked alongside the skilled performers at "The Big Top".

Thanks Big Top!

PS. Sometimes I worry that the Artist Formally Known As Birddog will get hit in the head with a golfball again and go back to 'normal'. Huh? Oh.

[I WAS Birddog]

PS. Sometimes I worry that the Artist Formally Known As Birddog will get hit in the head with a golfball again and go back to 'normal'. Huh? Oh.

break/break to another $h!t show

"I pissed down my left leg!"- Shack