The operators
Corail Helicopteres and the other Reunion operators, compared
Search for a Reunion helicopter flight and the same two or three names come back. Corail Helicopteres is the one most people arrive having heard of, and it is not the only company in the air here. This is who flies the listings on this site, where each one is based, and what actually differs between them.
Quick answer
Corail Helicopteres is the best-known Reunion helicopter operator, based at Pierrefonds near Saint-Pierre, and it is the name behind most of the classic island circuits. Other companies fly here too, including Helilagon on the west coast, and several microlight operators at Saint-Paul and Saint-Leu. The listings on this page start at $299 for a helicopter and $196 for a microlight.
Who flies over Reunion, at a glance
- Best-known Reunion helicopter name
- Corail Helicopteresbased at Pierrefonds, Saint-Pierre
- Also flying here
- Helilagonwest coast operations
- Microlight bases
- Saint-Paul, Saint-Leuopen two-seat aircraft, coastal routes
- Typical aircraft
- Light turbine singlesthe H130 class is common on island circuits
- Regulator
- DGACFrench civil aviation rules apply, as in mainland France
- Cheapest helicopter here
- $29935 minutes from Saint-Pierre
- Most reviewed listing
- $422190 reviews at 4.7
- Highest rated listing
- $4224.9 across 27 reviews
- What is standard
- Headsets, weigh-inand a briefing before every flight
- What differs
- Route and basefar more than the aircraft or the service
What actually differs between operators
Less than the marketing suggests, and in one place that matters
Same rules, similar aircraft. The airfield and the circuit are what change.
Here is the honest answer about Reunion helicopter companies, and it is not the one an operator would write. On a small island with a handful of scenic companies flying similar light turbine helicopters under the same French regulator, the differences between operators are small and the differences between routes are large.
Every Reunion helicopter flight here gives you a headset, a briefing, a weigh-in and a seat assigned for balance. The cabins are comparable. The pilots are commercial pilots working under DGAC rules, which are the same rules that apply in mainland France.
What changes your morning is which airfield the company flies from and which circuit it sells. Corail Helicopteres at Pierrefonds is closest to the volcano, so its southern circuits spend less time in transit. The west-coast operations open over the lagoon and climb into the cirques from the other side. Neither is better; they are different first ten minutes, and that is genuinely the main variable.
The second thing worth reading is the review count on the individual listing rather than the company name. On this page two listings carry 190 and 138 ratings, and four are new and carry almost none.
What to check on any listing
Six things worth reading before you book
These apply to every Reunion helicopter listing, whichever company name is on the aircraft.
- The departure airfield
Named on the listing. It decides your drive and the first ten minutes of the flight.
- The advertised minutes
Flying time, not the visit. Allow about ninety minutes at the field from check-in to walking back out.
- Whether it is a helicopter or a microlight
Four listings here are open two-seat microlights. Excellent over the coast, and a different aircraft with a different ceiling.
- The cancellation line
The helicopter listings on this page are free to cancel up to 24 hours before. Read it on the listing you actually pick.
- The review count, not just the score
A 4.9 across 27 reviews and a 4.7 across 190 are not the same claim.
- What the route names
Listings describe circuits in similar words. Look for the specific features: the volcano, the three cirques, Trou de Fer, the lagoon.
Every trip, current fare
Every listing, with its base and its evidence
Sorted as a shop window rather than by price. On a Reunion helicopter listing, read the Departs from column and the Rating column together: they tell you more about what you are booking than the operator name does.
| Flight | Duration | Price | Departs from | Cost per minute | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the Volcano and CirquesThe volcano and the cirques in one flight | 45 min | $375 | Saint-Pierre | $8.33 | 4.6 · 66 |
| Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Tour over the Intense IslandThe cheapest helicopter on the island | 35 min | $299 | Saint-Pierre | $8.54 | 4.8 · 138 |
| Saint-Pierre: Helicopter Flight over the 3 CirquesMafate, Cilaos and Salazie in one loop | 36 min | $312 | Saint-Pierre | $8.67 | 4.7 · 12 |
| Saint-Gilles: Island Tour by HelicopterThe island circuit from the west coast | 45 min | $370 | Saint-Gilles | $8.22 | New |
| Saint-Pierre: Island Tour by HelicopterThe island circuit from the south coast | 45 min | $370 | Saint-Pierre | $8.22 | New |
| Saint-Pierre: Full Helicopter Flight over Reunion IslandThe best-evidenced flight here: 190 reviews | 55 min | $422 | Saint-Pierre | $7.67 | 4.7 · 190 |
| Saint-Gilles: Excellence Helicopter TourThe Excellence route, rated 4.9 | 55 min | $422 | Saint-Gilles | $7.67 | 4.9 · 27 |
| Saint-Pierre: Excellence Helicopter TourThe Excellence route from Saint-Pierre | 55 min | $422 | Saint-Pierre | $7.67 | 4.1 · 7 |
| Saint-Paul: Microlight Flight over Cirques, Islets and LagoonsA microlight over the lagoon and cirque edges | 60 min | $196 | Saint-Paul | $3.27 | 4.7 · 32 |
| Saint-Paul: Microlight Flight over Mafate and Piton MaidoA microlight along the rim of Mafate | 60 min | $202 | Saint-Paul | $3.37 | New |
| Saint-Leu: Flight over Reunion Island in a MicrolightThe long microlight route from Saint-Leu | 60 min | $266 | Saint-Leu | $4.43 | New |
| Saint-Paul: The Ultimate Microlight Flight over Reunion IslandThe longest microlight route offered | 60 min | $277 | Saint-Paul | $4.62 | New |
| Reunion Island: Full-Day Island TourThe whole island by road, guided | 8-9 h | $693 | Sainte-Rose | — | New |
| Reunion Island: Volcano, Beaches and Paradise Landscapes Day TourVolcano and black-lava coast, by road | 7 h | $576 | Sainte-Rose | — | 4.9 · 10 |
You do not book an operator on GetYourGuide, you book a circuit. The useful comparison is between routes and departure fields, and that is how the table above is arranged.
Where flights leave from→Safety and rules
How Reunion helicopter operators are regulated
French civil aviation rules, the same routine at every field, and a shared weather culture.
Every Reunion helicopter operator works under the same law. Reunion is a French overseas department, not a separate jurisdiction. Commercial air operations here sit under the DGAC, the French civil aviation authority, and under the same European rules that apply in mainland France. That is the single most useful thing to know about operators here, and it is why the practical differences between them are small.
What follows from it is the routine you meet at every field: a passenger manifest, a weigh-in, a briefing, life jackets on the over-water legs and a licensed commercial pilot in the left seat. None of that is a selling point any operator can claim over another, because all of them do it.
The second consequence is the weather culture. Operators here postpone readily, and they are not being cautious for show: an island that builds cloud inside its own cirques every morning gives crews a clear, visible reason to wait. Flights move; nobody flies a closed bowl.
The third is the restricted zone at Piton de la Fournaise. When the volcano is active a no-fly area is published and every operator flies around it. The circuit changes for everyone on the same day.
Common questions
Reunion helicopter operators, answered
Who is Corail Helicopteres?
The best-known Reunion helicopter operator, based at Pierrefonds near Saint-Pierre, and the name behind most of the classic island circuits. It is not the only company flying here.
Is there more than one helicopter company on Reunion?
Yes. Several Reunion helicopter companies operate: Corail Helicopteres is the most recognised, Helilagon operates on the west coast, and several microlight companies fly from Saint-Paul and Saint-Leu.
Does it matter which operator I fly with?
Less than which circuit you book and which airfield it leaves from. The aircraft class, the briefing, the headsets and the regulator are the same; the route and the transit time are not.
What aircraft do they use?
Reunion helicopter operators fly light turbine single-engine machines, with the H130 class common on island circuits. Microlight operators fly open two-seat aircraft.
Who regulates flying here?
The DGAC, the French civil aviation authority. Every Reunion helicopter operation runs under the same rules as in mainland France.
Which listing has the most reviews?
The fifty-five-minute full island crossing at $422, with 190 reviews at 4.7 — more than any other listing on this site.
Go deeper
More on flying over Reunion Island
What it costs
From $196 to $422, and what a minute in the air is worth.
The verdictWhich flight is best
One recommendation for each town, and why.
No roadMafate from the air
Fourteen kilometres by seven, and not one road into it.
The chasmTrou de Fer from the air
Waterfalls in a hole in the forest, reached no other way.
The volcanoThe volcano flight
Two thousand six hundred metres of active crater.
The cirquesAll three cirques
Mafate, Cilaos and Salazie in thirty-six minutes.
