“Our 40-year-old Lama helicopter is still one of the best aircraft we operate,” says Tony Capraro, operations manager at Swiss-based helicopter firm Air Glaciers.

“They were made in the 1960s, so it is rare to find one in such good condition. As long as we still have the parts, we will continue to use it. But we don’t know how long that will go on for. Once the parts are no longer available, we are going to be in trouble,” he added.

Air Glaciers has been flight testing an AS350 B3 for the past two years as a possible replacement for the Lama, but although it has performed well in some tasks, Capraro claims that it does not perform so well in bad weather conditions. And as modern helicopters are often built for specific jobs rather than a combination of roles, they do not make good ‘all-rounders,’ he explains.

“Today, they are made mostly for transporting passengers and must be cheap to maintain. We need aircraft that can be combined for all tasks, but modern aircraft are usually built for the army these days,” Capraro said. “Then they are modified afterwards for specific purposes.”

The Lama, in contrast, is able to perform a wide range of tasks, from firefighting and spraying to sling cargo and mountain rescue. “At high altitudes we need a powerful aircraft. For cargo sling we’re losing less weight with increased altitude. It’s much easier carrying cargo through a valley than through the mountains.”

The company operates a 15-strong fleet for a variety of uses from vip passenger transport to heli-skiing. Its latest addition, a six-seat EC 130 is used for passenger transportation.

Mountain rescue generates a significant amount of flight hours, with aircraft called out for 15 to 25 rescues per day, with the summer and winter equally busy, as the company rescues mountain climbers or people stranded in the snow fields.