Hélicraft's Saint-Hubert base at 6500 Chemin de la Savane has operated civilian rotor-wing tours since 1987, positioning itself as the primary departure point for visitors seeking aerial perspectives over Montreal's island geography.
The facility sits seven kilometres southeast of the city core, within Longueuil's controlled airspace, where Transport Canada regulations permit low-altitude scenic corridors over the St. Lawrence River, Old Montreal's 17th-century street grid, and the forested slopes of Mount Royal. Flight paths trace the same routes commercial helicopters used in the 1970s to ferry executives between downtown heliports and Dorval Airport, now repurposed for leisure traffic that peaks during autumn foliage season and summer festival months.
Montreal's helicopter tour industry emerged in the mid-1980s as municipal noise ordinances relaxed and tourism infrastructure expanded around Expo 67's legacy sites. The Saint-Hubert airfield, originally a Royal Canadian Air Force training base during the Second World War, transitioned to civilian aviation in 1972 and now hosts charter operators alongside flight schools. Hélicraft's fleet includes Robinson R44 and Bell 206 models, both certified for low-speed observation flights that circle Jacques Cartier Bridge's steel truss span, follow the Lachine Canal's industrial waterfront, and bank over the Olympic Stadium's inclined tower. Pilots maintain VFR clearance at 300 metres altitude, the minimum height that frames downtown's cluster of International Style office towers against the Monteregian Hills' wooded ridgeline.
The attraction draws photographers chasing unobstructed views of Place Ville Marie's cruciform rooftop and cruise ship terminals along the Old Port basin, angles impossible to replicate from terrestrial observation decks. Winter operations continue through February when ice floes drift past Île Sainte-Hélène, though turbulence over the river corridor often redirects routes inland toward Westmount's residential terraces. Guided helicopter tours depart hourly between 09:00 and 18:00, with commentary delivered through noise-cancelling headsets that isolate engine vibration from the cabin's Plexiglas bubble. The experience condenses Montreal's 431-square-kilometre footprint into twenty-minute segments, compressing the city's bilingual streetscape and geological setting into a single sweeping arc above the confluence where the Ottawa River meets the St. Lawrence Seaway.
30 min
