Garden City Helicopters was established 1983 by John Currie flying from New Brighton Beach, Christchurch City.
When the company first started, John was mainly flying scenic tourism flights. As the only helicopter company operating in Christchurch at the time, John was often called on to help emergency services, so the Rescue Helicopter operation became a necessity for the community and started serving the community in 1985. In 1995 following the Cave Creek disaster John introduced the NZ Flying Doctor Service to transport critically ill patients to base hospitals around the country.
The expansion of tourism opportunities in Christchurch increased the demand for scenic flights, and the formalisation of a dedicated and expanded 24-hour air rescue operation resulted in a 2018 relocation to a purpose-built base adjacent to Christchurch International Airport.
Garden City Helicopters is still widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s premier helicopter operators, servicing all aspects of tourism and charter flights, air ambulance and rescue operations, commercial flying and pilot training.
The addition of an executive Jet Centre and the acquisition of a private charter business jet required a new brand for the group of companies so and GCH Aviation Group brand became our new brand.
In addition to the Christchurch headquarters, the GCH Aviation Group has helicopter bases in Kaikoura, Greymouth, Nelson, Wellington, and Fiji.