PremiAir has reinforced its charter fleet to cope with rising demand for the services provided from its south-east England bases. Three Twin Squirrel AS 355 F1s are being redeployed from PremiAir's police air support division where the over-riding demand is for pilots rather than helicopters.

Robin Taylor-Hunt, head of charter and management, said: "Everything we have to offer on the charter side is being sold out. The strategic switch will help us meet demand."

PremiAir, based in Denham, near Uxbridge, and Blackbushe, near Camberley, has a dozen pilots in its charter division. The Twin Squirrel redeployment will bring the division's helicopter strength to 12 twin turbines including eight 355s, one Bell 222, one Agusta 109 and two Sikorsky 76s.

PremiAir has a joint arrangement with the von Essen luxury hotel group for mutual referral of services.

Taylor-Hunt said: "We market their hotels and von Essen market our helicopters. It is proving a very satisfactory arrangement."

Congestion on the roads and the length of time involved in using scheduled airlines is boosting PremiAir business. "People who value their time are coming to us," said Taylor-Hunt. "Business is expanding across the board. Many customers take cost-effective use of their time very seriously and this means that flying directly from, say, Luton to Battersea is a very attractive option."

PremiAir's police helicopter pilots mostly today operate Eurocopter EC135 and MD Helicopters MD902. On fixed wing, they fly the Britten-Norman BN-2T Turbine Islander/Defender 4000. PremiAir also has an engineering and maintenance division with around 70 staff. It is also an authorised service centre for manufacturers and suppliers including Raytheon/Beechcraft, Bell and Sikorsky.

Shane Warne was a VIP passenger with PremiAir. He delivered the match ball for the English FA Cup final at Cardiff won on penalties by Liverpool after a final score of 3-3 against West Ham United.