What a helicopter lift actually costs in Australia
Most lifts in South East Queensland start from $14,000 plus GST. The price depends on where the site is, how hard it is to reach, and how many lifts are needed. This page explains every line that moves the number, so you can sanity check a quote before you sign it, ours or anyone else's.
All figures AUD, excluding GST. Indicative only, a written quote follows a site assessment.
Rates
Rates and minimum charge
$3,500 an hour
On task, billed from lift-off at the staging area to shutdown, in six minute increments.
Four-hour minimum
4 hrs at $3,500/hr ex GST. The minimum covers planning, permits, rigging, crew mobilisation to the aircraft and the load plan.
$14,000 – $25,000
Typical SEQ job. A typical multi-lift day is $18,000 – $42,000.
| Aircraft | Hook | On task | Min hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS350 | 800 kg | $3,500/hr | 4 hrs |
There is no charge for weather days that do not launch.
Indicative ranges
What comparable jobs have cost, by job type
| Job type | Typical load | Aircraft | Lifts | Indicative range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spa or pool shell placement | 150 – 500 kg | AS350 | 1 | $14,000 – $18,000 |
| Residential HVAC / split systems | 100 – 500 kg | AS350 | 1 – 4 | $14,000 – $19,000 |
| Commercial rooftop plant | 400 – 780 kg | AS350 | 2 – 6 | $16,000 – $32,000 |
| Tower or antenna sections | 400 – 780 kg | AS350 | 4 – 12 | $14,000 – $30,000 |
| Island or remote materials run | 300 – 780 kg | AS350 | 8 – 40 | $18,000 – $48,000 |
| Concrete skip placement | 500 – 780 kg | AS350 | 20 – 80 | $22,000 – $52,000 |
| Power pole change-out, light | 400 – 780 kg | AS350 | 10 – 30 | $32,000 – $70,000 |
| Structural steel and small trusses | 450 – 780 kg | AS350 | 4 – 12 | $24,000 – $45,000 |
| Heavy or oversized loads | Over 800 kg | Heavy lift aircraft up to 4,000 kg, on request | Varies | Quoted on assessment |
These are South East Queensland figures with the aircraft based in Brisbane. Add mobilisation for anything north or west of the Sunshine Coast, per the table below.
Weighing this against a crane? Helicopter or crane: when an aerial lift is actually the cheaper option works through the six site conditions that flip the maths.
Get your price range in a minute
Tell us the load and the site. You see an indicative range before we ask for your details. From $14,000 plus GST.
Request a liftPermits and approvals
What is included and what is not
Included
- CASA external load approvals and our operations plan for the task
- Load plan, performance calculations and pilot in command sign-off
- Site specific SWMS and JSA, issued before mobilisation
- Certified rigging: long line, remote hook, slings, shackles and load cell
- Loadmaster and ground controller for the exclusion zone
- Aviation liability and hull insurance, certificates of currency on request
- Weather stand-down: no flying, no on-task charge
Quoted separately
- Third-party permits: council, land manager, rail or road corridor consents
- Airspace coordination fees near controlled aerodromes, where levied
- Traffic management if a ground exclusion still requires it
- Crane, telehandler or EWP support you elect to keep on site
- Fabrication, disconnection, commissioning and trade labour
- Accommodation for your own personnel on regional tasks
- Site assessment fee where required, credited against the lift if it proceeds
What drives cost
Six lines move the number. Everything else is rounding.
Aircraft selection
40–60% of cost
We fly the AS350 for almost every job. It has a working maximum of 800 kg, sets the base on-task rate, and carries the smallest crew for the job with margin, because that is the cheapest safe answer. A heavy lift aircraft up to 4,000 kg is available on request for loads that exceed the AS350's working maximum, at a materially higher rate.
A 650 kg unit flies comfortably on the AS350. Loads over the 800 kg working maximum move to a heavy lift aircraft up to 4,000 kg on request.
Flight time on task
20–40% of cost
Billed from lift-off at the staging area to shutdown, in six minute increments, against a minimum charge of 4 hours at $3,500 per hour ex GST, $14,000 ex GST. Cycle time is driven by the distance between the laydown and the drop point, and by how fast the ground crew hooks up and releases.
Moving the laydown 400 m closer can shave a minute off a cycle. Over 60 cycles that is an hour of flying.
Mobilisation distance
10–45% of cost
The aircraft, crew, fuel truck and rigging have to reach the region. Positioning is charged at a transit rate each way, plus a fixed regional mobilisation for crew accommodation and support vehicles. Distance is the single largest variable on regional work.
The same rooftop lift is materially cheaper in Brisbane than in Cairns, and the load weight never changed.
Site complexity
0–45% loading
Confined approaches, CBD airspace, live plant, over-water legs and long working radius all add reconnaissance, ground crew, extra hover time and in some cases a dedicated air traffic coordination plan.
A CBD rooftop carries a 1.42× loading against a clear open paddock with the identical load.
Number of lifts
Reduces unit cost
Base fee, mobilisation, permits and rigging are one-off. Every additional cycle only adds flight minutes, so unit cost falls steeply with volume. Batching work into one tasking is the easiest saving on the page.
One spa is expensive per kilogram. Sixty tracker frames in a day is the cheapest lifting on the project.
Permits and approvals
Third-party, at cost
Standard CASA external load approvals, our operations plan, SWMS and JSA are included. What varies is third-party cost: airspace coordination near controlled aerodromes, council or land manager approvals, road or rail corridor consents, protected area permits and after-hours access fees.
A paddock needs a landholder agreement. A CBD roof deck can need airspace coordination, building consent and a night works permit.
Mobilisation distance
What it costs to get the aircraft there
| Region | Mobilisation | One-way transit | Typical days on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | $1,800 | 18 min | 1 |
| Gold Coast | $2,200 | 30 min | 1 |
| Sunshine Coast | $2,400 | 36 min | 1 |
| Toowoomba & Darling Downs | $3,200 | 54 min | 1 |
| Wide Bay | $4,600 | 1.4 hrs | 1.5 |
| Rockhampton | $7,400 | 2.6 hrs | 2 |
| Mackay & Whitsundays | $9,200 | 3.4 hrs | 2 |
| Townsville | $11,800 | 4.2 hrs | 2.5 |
| Cairns & Far North | $14,500 | 5.1 hrs | 3 |
| Mount Isa & North West | $16,800 | 5.8 hrs | 3 |
| Moreton Bay & Islands | $2,600 | 36 min | 1 |
Mobilisation is the single biggest reason a regional lift costs more than the same lift in Brisbane. It is also the line most worth optimising: if you can batch work with other jobs in the same region, or shift a date to align with an existing tasking, mobilisation is shared and the saving is real.
Site complexity
What the site itself adds
| Site type | Multiplier | Extra time on task | Radius |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear open site | ×1.00 | +0 hrs | 18 m |
| Suburban backyard | ×1.18 | +0.5 hrs | 26 m |
| CBD rooftopSite assessment required | ×1.42 | +1.2 hrs | 34 m |
| Steep or remote terrain | ×1.30 | +0.8 hrs | 40 m |
| Island or over waterSite assessment required | ×1.36 | +1 hrs | 48 m |
Why more lifts cost proportionally less
- Single lifts1 cycle, ~5 min flight time
- 2 to 5 lifts4 cycles, ~20 min flight time
- 6 to 20 lifts12 cycles, ~60 min flight time
- 20+ lifts30 cycles, ~150 min flight time
Base fee, mobilisation, permits and rigging are paid once regardless of how many loads you move. Once the aircraft is on task, each additional cycle costs roughly 5 minutes of flight time. That is why a single spa placement feels expensive per kilogram and a sixty-cycle solar farm day is the cheapest lifting on the project. If you have work that could be bundled into the same tasking, tell us early, it is the largest single saving available to you.
Against the alternative
Helicopter versus mobile crane, honestly
| Line | Mobile crane | Helicopter |
|---|---|---|
| Access, hard stand and permits | Required before work starts | Not required |
| Time on site | 6 – 8 hrs | ~20 min flight time |
| Road closure | Often required | 0 |
| Traffic management | $3,000 – $12,000 | $0 typical |
| Ground bearing works | Frequently required | None |
| Site occupancy | 6 – 8 hrs | ~20 min |
| Cost per pick, open site | Lower | Higher |
| Cost per pick, no access | Not achievable | Achievable |
A crane is cheaper than a helicopter on an open site with a hardstand, a short reach and no time pressure. We will tell you when that is your situation. The helicopter wins when the crane cannot be set, cannot reach, or when setup, traffic management and programme time cost more than the flying.
What we cannot price from a phone call
- CBD rooftop work where airspace coordination or building consent is involved
- Loads above 85% of the aircraft's working maximum
- Over-water or island tasks needing a specific performance plan
- Live industrial plant lifts inside an operating facility
- Sites where the exclusion zone crosses property you do not control
- Loads of unknown weight, unknown lifting points or unbalanced geometry
Anyone who quotes these firm over the phone is guessing, and the variation will find you later. For these we do a site assessment first, a fixed fee, credited against the lift if it proceeds.
Cost questions
Helicopter lift cost, asked plainly
Ready to book a lift?
Get an indicative price in about a minute, then a written quote.