Despite the winter months creating some of the worst weather on record, Thruxton-based FAST Helicopter's fleet of executive charter helicopters has been busier than in previous winters.

Corporate charter flying hours between November and January have seen an increase of 20 per cent in what is a traditionally quiet time of the year.

FAST's own research into why more business people have booked a helicopter taxi to travel across the country shows that many are frustrated with road travel and 12 per cent of those surveyed were avoiding rail journeys.

Adding a French manufactured $1 Million Aerospatiale AS 355 F1 Ecureuil (better known in the aviation industry as a Twin Squirrel) to the fleet of the traditional charter favourites, the Bell 206 JetRanger, has enabled the company to provide all-weather transportation.

FAST Helicopter's managing director and chief pilot Mike Green, says the twin engine Squirrel can go almost anywhere, any time in instrument-flying conditions similar to the airlines.

He said: "Once time-conscious business people use a helicopter, they find it hard to return to slower forms of transport. By travelling at a constant 140 mph, journey times are cut by one third.''

One barrier to growth of the charter operation is the fact that many directors and entrepreneurs who charter helicopters frequently, realise that they can easily learn to fly their own.

As a former Army Air Corp captain who is one of the Civil Aviation Authority's senior helicopter examiners, Mr Green says that their team of seven instructors based at Thruxton and Shoreham airfields are kept busy training private pilots.