The day by helicopter: from heliport to circuit and back

What happens before the day?

Once you confirm, your booking confirmation sets out the flight times, the aircraft type and the cancellation terms. At least 48 hours before the flight we email your schedule with the heliport address and directions.

We check the forecast with you the day before and again on the morning. If the flight is cancelled because of the weather, you pay nothing.

Tell us before the day about luggage and kit. Luggage space is limited and varies with the helicopter and the number of passengers. A soft bag each is easy; hard cases need a word when you ask for the quote.

This is also the moment to tell us anything that affects the flight: a passenger with reduced mobility, a pet, an early start or a tight meeting time. Pets are welcome by prior arrangement. The more we know before the day, the fewer decisions are left for the morning of the flight.

A short checklist helps: photo identification for each passenger, a note of the heliport address, your event ticket or booking reference, and the mobile number of the person who will meet you at the circuit. Keep luggage compact and bring layers, because a heliport is open air and weather changes quickly.

What does a typical charter day look like?

These steps apply to most event and business days. Your own times depend on the event, the heliport hours and the slots allocated.

For the Battersea departure in detail, see helicopter from London Battersea.

A useful rule is to work backwards from the moment you need to be at the event. Allow for the flight, the transfer at the circuit and a margin, then set the heliport time from there. If the event has a fixed start, such as a conference session or a track-day briefing, tell us the time and we plan the slot around it.

Keep your phone charged and your schedule email to hand, because it carries the heliport address, directions and the contact number for the day.

What happens when you land at Silverstone?

Silverstone has its own heliport, and prior permission is required for every helicopter movement. We obtain it as part of the booking and agree the arrival and departure slots with the circuit. Landings are by pre-booked slot.

On the ground a handling team greets you and escorts you to a waiting vehicle for the transfer to your part of the circuit. On Grand Prix weekend, passengers are transferred from the heliport terminal straight to their hospitality or grandstand. Other sister-site guidance puts the walk from the pad to the paddock or grandstands at around five to ten minutes, depending on where your ticket sits, so check your own arrangements.

For the landing site and its rules, read Silverstone heliport and landing.

Remember that the circuit is large. Where you want to go, a hospitality suite, a grandstand, the events centre or a track-day pit garage, decides the transfer. Give us the destination in advance, and the handling team can plan the vehicle. After the event, the vehicle brings you back to the heliport for the flight home.

If your plans change on the day, tell the handling team or us as early as you can, and we adjust the pick-up where the venue and the daylight allow.

How does race weekend differ from other days?

The Formula 1 British Grand Prix is listed from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 July 2027, though the circuit calls the F1 calendar provisional. Practice is on the Friday, qualifying on the Saturday and the race on the Sunday. Silverstone's 2025 heliport announcement projected more than 6,000 passengers on over 1,500 flights that July, so slots are limited and the circuit manages arrivals.

Other days are quieter. The same landing area is used for race meetings, track days, corporate events and conferences, at a gentler tempo. Booking is still by slot, and the booking process is the same. See the British Grand Prix by helicopter guide and events and track days by helicopter.

Whatever the day, the same principle holds: the circuit decides the slots, and we work inside them. That is why we confirm arrangements in writing before you pay, and why we agree a plan B at the start. A flexible attitude to timing, within the daylight, helps everyone.

How does the flight home work?

We agree the pick-up time with you in advance and keep it flexible where the venue allows, so the helicopter waits for you rather than the other way round. The fixed points are weather, daylight and crew duty limits, plus the circuit's own departure slots on event days.

• Daylight. A landing after dark needs a lit, licensed site at both ends, so evening returns are planned around daylight.
• Heliport hours. Battersea is normally open until 19:30 on weekdays and 18:00 at weekends, with extensions by prior arrangement.
• Tell us your leaving point. Say whether you want to leave at the chequered flag or later, so the slot is arranged ahead.

If you expect to stay late, tell us at the booking stage. A later departure may need a heliport extension in Battersea, which has request deadlines, and it must still fit within daylight and the circuit's own slots. It is much easier to arrange a late return in advance than to ask for one on the day.

On the return, the handling team and the vehicle bring you back to the heliport, where the helicopter is ready. The flight home takes about the same time as the flight out, and a car can meet you at the other end if you ask us to arrange one.

What about a business day at the circuit?

Silverstone's conference and meetings offer includes 22 spaces, five large halls, a 100-seat auditorium and 40 pit garages for meetings or team building. A helicopter lets a team leave London after breakfast and be back the same day, within heliport hours. For the venue, see business events and The Wing, then send an enquiry with your date and party.

A business group often has a precise agenda. Tell us the start and finish times, the number of delegates and whether a second helicopter is needed, and we plan the day backwards from the meeting. Hospitality and team events work the same way.

If part of your group prefers the road, or you want a car at either end of the flight, see our page on a chauffeur to Silverstone.