It had been four decades since I was last in a helicopter, on a scenic flight around Waikiki beach, Honolulu, in the red/yellow/black-striped chopper used in the Magnum PI television series in the 1970s!  Because of the summer updrafts, especially over the caldera of Diamond Head, there was a fair bit of turbulence and to be honest I didn’t really enjoy the experience.  But I was always keen to give it another go, and an opportunity arose when I was visiting the Cote d’Azure for a short autumn break.

Last year Monacair was awarded the rights to operate scheduled helicopter services between Nice and Monaco, formerly held by HeliAirMonaco (who still offer non-scheduled services in the area). Their website monacair.mc is pretty good and you can book one of the 50 or so 7-minute flights a day between NCE airport and a small heliport on the water’s edge in Monaco, or vice versa, for €160 each one way.

I was staying in Cap Ferrat so we took a nice Mercedes minivan taxi from there to Nice Cote d’Azure airport (NCE) after breakfast on a sunny Tuesday morning.  I recall from watching films and previous flights into NCE that the heliport is on the ocean side of the airport runway (the terminals are on the land side), so I was surprised when our driver dropped us outside Terminal 1 (the terminal used by BA, Qatar etc). But inside the terminal, on the right hand side of the ground floor, we found the Monacair desk, where we checked in.  We were a little early for our 11:45 flight, so, as is often the case, they put us on an earlier flight. Mr.A and I, plus a solo lady, were escorted through a fast rack security screening and then onto a waiting minibus.  The bus then drove round to Terminal 2 (used by Air France), where two American couples and their luggage got on.  They were heading to Monaco to pick up a cruise ship.

And so the minibus slowly wound its way across the apron and taxiways to the heliport on the ocean side of the airfield, where we parked next to a handful of helicopters.  On the bus journey the passengers informally discussed the seating options and we agreed that I would sit in the front, along with an American lady who was celebrating her birthday.  But when we came to board the Airbus H-130 helicopter, registration 3A-MVT, the Monacair staff directed the two ladies to the front seats, leaving me last to board, into the starboard rear seat (in a row of four). I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to film the best video on my GoPro, but I didn’t feel like dwelling on it; I was after all, about to fly in a helicopter into Monaco! i.e. I counted my blessings.

Passenger seats on board were cosy but not cramped. Everyone has a five point seatbelt to do up, which took a few minutes.  There’s no stowage space, so small bags and such can be taken from you and put in the small rear luggage compartment, and returned upon landing directly at the aircraft side – so there’s no need to worry about your small items ‘going into the hold’, where they might have been lost or broken on a large aircraft.

Before we were even strapped in the skipper started up the engines. While most of us were just here for a joy-ride, Monacair needs to focus on the punctual performance of its multiple flights all day long, which is also why they move you on to earlier flights if you arrive early, like we did.  Take-off was so smooth and gentle that I wouldn’t have been aware we were airborne if I wasn’t looking out of the cabin. We gained just a little height, then banked right and headed off at very low altitude towards the glistening Mediterranean, which, I can confirm, is azure!  The helicopters fly a mile or so offshore, so as not to disturb people on the land, so the clearest views are of the sea below, and the land was a little distant and bathed in a light mist, as we passed Nice, Cap Ferrat and Beaulieu.  Monaco itself comes as a bit of a surprise, I guess because it doesn’t have a well-known skyline when seen from the ocean. I only realised we were approaching Monaco when we started to descend towards a small patch of land at the side of the water which already had a couple of helicopters sitting in the sunshine.  I suppose I’d been hoping of a flight over the Grand Prix circuit to announce our arrival in the Principality!

Touch-down was as smooth as take-off and we disembarked and walked just a handful of metres into the tiny terminal building. The six of us formed a casual queue at a desk where we had to show our passports – officially this was a different country to where we left seven minutes earlier.  After a couple of minutes we boarded a black minivan which took us all to the places we had told them we wanted.  I suspect this took longer than normal, because just one van was dropping off all six passengers, and we had to go to the harbour for the cruise passengers, which took a bit of time to get into and out of. So we reached our destination, the Hotel Metropole, bang on 12:30, which was the time of our lunch reservation.

Monacair runs a slick operation and I can heartily commend it as a good time-saving option of getting to Monte Carlo. €160 is a similar price to what a taxi would cost you between the two cities, so, comparatively, this thrilling joy-ride is not a stupid waste of money. 9/10