Page 49 - Waterfall City Special Edition 2022

aviation

Situated in the Waterfall City Logistics Hub, between the N1 Such has been the success of the heliport since opening
and K101 (Old Pretoria Road), the Ultimate Heliport’s location that the first phase is already running at capacity, with 40
is remote enough from the rest of Waterfall City to ensure helicopters now operating from there and no space available
businesses and residents are not disturbed by noise, yet for more. The two current operators, namely Ultimate Heli
central enough to provide convenient access to the wider city and National Airways Corporation, which both provide
for those operating out of, or using, this base. helicopter charters particularly for VIPs, are supplemented by
With the aim of meeting Gauteng’s growing aviation Netcare 911. The emergency medical assistance operator
demands, the heliport was planned according to the is using the heliport as a base for all helicopter emergency
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) textbook services in Gauteng and neighbouring provinces. Furthermore,
design and complies with all recognised international helicopter cash-in-transit surveillance monitoring and vehicle
standards. It also received approval from the South African tracking are also done from the heliport.
Civil Aviation Authority (SA CAA) to ensure it is fully compliant “Additionally, the heliport performs heavy maintenance
with local requirements. at the facility for helicopters from all over the world. At the
Shaun Roseveare, CEO at Ultimate Heli says, “For many years, moment, helicopters from Sweden and the UAE are here
there’s been a shortage of suitable helicopter hangar facilities for heavy inspections. We also perform heavy maintenance
around Gauteng, yet despite this, we haven’t seen new airports on other machines from Australia, Europe and Africa. It is a
built in this area – certainly not in our organisation’s lifetime. labour-intensive undertaking, requiring the expertise of many
The need to have increased helicopter hangar space closer to highly trained specialists,” Roseveare explains.
the heart of the city’s business district resulted in us moving Other than the O.R. Tambo International Airport, the
forward on our own to develop a heliport plan, selecting Ultimate Heliport was the only helicopter facility operational
Waterfall City as the ideal location.” during the COVID-19 hard lockdown in Gauteng. It provided
24-hour air medical response during the pandemic, with all
emergency services operating from there.
“The heliport is firmly established as a world-class
aeromedical base. For emergency respondents, we provide the
centrality essential for them to add value and get to crashes
and other emergencies quickly,” he adds.
Construction of phase two of the heliport will commence
during the second quarter of 2023 and will take approximately
a year to complete, creating additional jobs across labour
and highly skilled segments. It will feature a flight simulator
of international standards and will mostly focus on the heavy
maintenance of helicopters, so there will not be a noise
footprint added.
“With the addition of the flight simulator, we will provide in-
house training for pilots from all around the globe. Not many
places in the world do the level of work we do here, and so
we are excited by the potential of this heliport, as we move
towards its completion,” he concludes.
Having a world-class heliport situated in Waterfall City not
only adds a level of convenience and luxury to those who make
use of this facility, but also demonstrates just how trailblazing
this development is.

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