Saxon Air now UK’s largest onshore helicopter operator

Sudden growth, years in the making, said Miles Riches, newly appointed head of Rotary Sales at Saxon Air Helicopters, of what is now the largest onshore rotary fleet in the UK. 

Since December 2025, five new managed helicopters have been added, taking the total rotary fleet to twelve aircraft. Further expansion is underway and three more are expected to join the AOC by April 2026.

“It’s the largest rotary fleet we’ve ever operated,” Riches told CJI. “Adding five new managed aircraft within a year would be an unusually large spike, so adding that many in the space of four months greatly exceeds our targets.”

Although some additions had been in the pipeline with existing managed clients, the majority are new to Saxon Air, he confirmed. The latest addition is a new AgustaWestland AW109SP.

“This sudden growth has spawned out of building relationships, which takes time and doesn’t happen overnight. We changed our outreach and business development strategy to get ‘out there’ more, networking within the industry and making connections outside of it,” he said.

Riches also pointed at changes in the UK rotary onshore charter market upon which Saxon Air has been well-positioned to capitalise. He said there has been a trend of UK operators moving away from managed aircraft to fleet ownership. “In doing so, they are no longer interested in the management side, whereas we are,” he said.

“There’s also been a switch from single-crew operations to purely multi-crew operations,” he continued. “We’re kind of covering both sides of that, where some operators are sticking to multi-crew only, which again is making some owners choose to leave and look for other options. These things are always very cyclical, and we’ve been fortunate enough that with the current changes going on in the market, we are in that position this time around.”

Saxon Air’s prime position is in part due to its diverse fleet which includes the Leonardo AW109S, AW109 Trekker, AW109SP, AW119Kx and Airbus H125.

But another key persuader for many clients is Saxon Air’s ability to offer both helicopter and fixed-wing services through its dual AOC, said Riches. 

“Integrated services make strong practical sense for owners. A large proportion of rotary clients also regularly utilise corporate jets and vice versa,” he explained

“Our in house expertise across both rotary and fixed-wing operations allows us to cross pollinate knowledge, operational experience and best practice across the wider aviation spectrum. Just as importantly, it enables us to keep everything under one roof, with a single point of contact, consistent standards and clear accountability throughout.”

Riches also points to the agility of Saxon Air versus its competitors. “We have an understanding that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ when it comes to agreements and processes, meaning we can custom build each agreement to each individual owner to work best for them,” he said.

Saxon Air maintains helicopter bases and crew across Denham, Elstree, Oxford, Redhill and Norwich, enabling flexible basing within 10 minutes flight time of London, it claims.

The firm primarily looks after individuals directly, but also supports some organisations. Riches said customers partly want to offset costs through chartering their asset, but generally it’s about having the aircraft looked after by an organisation they can trust. 

“Buying a complex helicopter isn’t like buying a car – you don’t just sign the contract and pick up the keys, there are lots of nuances and complications that come with aircraft ownership, and it’s what we’re experts at,” he said.

The biggest challenges facing Saxon Air’s managed fleet today are supply chain-based, including the availability and cost of spares and waiting times on the delivery of new machines, according to Riches.

These issues also extend to OEM support. “The VIP helicopter market is a very small part of what they do – when compared with medical, offshore, military contracts, etc – which can make it harder for us to get the support,” he said.

Saxon Air also faces issues securing personnel, particularly pilots with enough experience to operate in the VIP onshore market, said Riches. “Flight crew and ground operations staff recruitment can also be a challenge,” he added. “We’re after committed all rounders, but the pace of work and non-standard working hours can be off-putting to potential employees.”