Flying time between Monaco and Nice
may be only seven minutes, but the entire
Monacair customer experience is closer to
an hour, and Mazaudier has pulled out all
the stops to ensure that every passenger
enjoys 5-star service during that time.
From a VIP pick-up in Monaco, luggage
check-in to final destination handled by
experienced desk agents, to a direct transfer
to the boarding gate at Nice airport, the
whole process has been designed to be as
simple and easy as possible. The planned
refurbishment of the heliport in upcoming
years will further improve the comfort of
passengers.
Monacair’s clientele and their expectations
have changed considerably since the 1980s,
as has the industry’s commercial structure --
especially its customer interface. Passengers
now expect to be able to book their seats
from their laptop or smartphone. “The idea
is for the customers to just type in the flight
number and get the best possible times and
real-time visibility about where and when
their pick-up is coming,” says Mazaudier.
“This is really a huge operation, but it will
get the customers what they want.”
To this end Mazaudier has been busy
recruiting a new team, some of whom bring
with them in-depth knowledge of the airline
business and others cutting-edge expertise
in either digital marketing or customer
services from outside the helicopter
industry.
Monacair’s transformation is well under
way.
I
n 2015, concern over the use of aging
helicopters by the local shuttle service,
along with the decline in quality of what
should have been the principality’s flagship
service and most visitors’ first panoramic
impressions of the Cote d’Azur’s stunning
coastline, prompted the Monegasque
authorities to put the shuttle service out
to tender. Monacair won the 10-year
concession and under its management
the service has been transformed. Today,
thousands of visiting VIPs, senior business
executives, residents as well as middle-
income tourists have come to appreciate
both the speed and quality of service that
runs up to 80 times a day and offers rides
for as little as $160.
Galvanized by the recent arrival of the
33-year-old CEO Damien Mazaudier, the
company is now on a mission to reinvent
itself as a helicopter airline rather than as a
taxi service with rotor blades. Over the past
three years, Mazaudier and his team have
been hard at work establishing partnerships
with the likes of Air France, British Airways
and Emirates. Now an increasing number of
international passengers flying into Nice can
seamlessly connect with Monacair helicopter
flights to Monte Carlo.
Thanks to a significant reduction in red
tape, passengers need to leave the principality
only one hour before their connecting flight is
scheduled for take-off from Nice. By checking
in at Monaco, they sidestep any queues at
Nice, even if they are heading to destinations
as diverse as Doha, Beijing and Dubai.
“We want to make everything easy for our
customers,” Mazaudier says. “Things don’t
need to be complicated.”
Repositioning Monacair as a seamless
extension of some of the world’s most
technically advanced carriers has not always
been easy. From Mazaudier’s point of view,
the overriding requirement was to replicate
the quality of service that a passenger who
had just flown in first-class in a brand-new
Dreamliner was accustomed to.
As a first step, the goal was to modernize
the Monacair fleet, which today consists of 33
helicopters composed of 11 different models.
One of the most popular of these for airport
transfers is the modern Airbus H130, which
offers passengers a 180° panoramic view as it
cruises along the French Riviera. Also, among
the new fleet is the luxurious six-to-eight-seat
Airbus H155, also known as “The Flying
Carpet,” which is fitted out with enhanced
sound-proofing, and the lightweight Leonardo
AW109, which reaches speeds of 200 miles
per hour. Both of these helicopters are in high
demand, particularly among clients looking to
book private flights.
MONACAIR –
Reaching New Heights
Damien Mazaudier
CEO MONACAIR
In 1988, a young Italian entrepreneur by the name of Stefano
Casiraghi founded Monacair, a VIP helicopter company
designed to take passengers from Monaco to anywhere within
a 600 km-radius of Monte Carlo, from Tuscany and St Tropez
to Portofino and Gstaad. Monacair did well focusing on luxury
private flights, while a local competitor handled a shuttle
service to Nice Airport.
Monacair H130 helicopter flying along the Monaco coastline
CONTENT FROM THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR
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