Copterline to resume service to Tallinn

The Finnish helicopter service Copterline will resume regular passenger flights between Helsinki and the Estonian capital Tallinn next winter.
      The service was suspended for over two years after the company's Sikorsky S-76 model helicopter crashed into the sea off Tallinn in August 2005, killing all 14 people on board.
      After the crash, Copterline sold off its remaining Sikorsky, and has focused on medical helicopter services and charger flights.
     
On Wednesday, Copterline announced a deal under which the CapMan capital fund and a few private owners sold two thirds of the company's shares for an undisclosed price. In addition to changes in ownership, the company has a new management, and will soon have a new fleet.
      The largest single owner is the pension insurance company Ilmarinen, which will have a 40 per cent holding in the company. Another significant new owner is Ilkka Herlin of the elevator company Kone, who has a 20 per cent stake. The third major owner is the company's former CEO, helicopter pilot Kari Ljungberg, who sold 17.5 per cent of the company, but kept 25 per cent for himself.
      Banker Kari Stadigh also gave up his share in the company.
     
In addition to new owners, the company is now under new management. The CEO is Jerker Molander, who was recruited from outside. He had previously served as CEO of the Internet-based brokerage company eQ Online.
      The new chairwoman of the board is Mona Björklund, who has previously headed the business travel agency Travek, and who has long been on the board of Finavia - Formerly the National Board of Aviation.
      Ljungberg will stay on the board of the company, as will former chairman Kari Österlund, who is keeping a four per cent holding in Copterline.
     
Molander says that Copterline has agreed on the purchase of two new Agusta AW139 helicopters from Italy. The price will be close to EUR 20 million. The first Agusta will come in the early winter, and the second is expected in the summer of 2008. The aim is to start the service immediately when the first helicopter is delivered.
      Ljungberg says that the Agusta is technically more advanced than the S-76, which represents 1970s technology. The Italian copter is more efficient, quieter, and faster than its American predecessor, although the flight time across the Golf of Finland will be reduced by only a minute to 17 minutes.
      The route will not change. Departures will be from Hernesaari in Helsinki, where Copterline has built a new terminal. Ticket prices have not been announced.
     
Kari Österlund chaired a meeting of the Copterline Board on the fateful day of August 10th, 2005.
      The board had just received a very positive review of development in the company. In the afternoon the board was supposed to formalise a decision to buy two new large Sikorsky S-98 helicopters for a planned route between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The tragic news of the accident off Tallinn led to the cancellation of all ambitious plans, and the company has been keeping a low profile until now, although it has filed suit against the helicopter's manufacturer Sikorsky in a New York court.
      The Estonian board of inquiry found that the cause of the accident was a fault in the rotor servo of the helicopter.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Loosened servo piston plasma coating confirmed as cause of Copterline crash (8.8.2007)
  Pilots´ next of kin seek to combine their case with that of Copterline in New York Court (15.5.2007)
  COMMENTARY: When money comes before aviation safety (6.3.2007)
  Copterline seeks massive damages in US court from Sikorsky (2.1.2007)
  Safety officials to look into Copterline´s operating procedures (20.9.2005)
  Fourteen passengers and crew dead after helicopter crashes in the sea off Estonian coast (11.8.2005)

Links:
  2005 Tallinn Sikorsky S-76 crash (Wikipedia)
  Copterline