Gustavo Junovich, Country Manager, Ecocopter

• Interview

Being a Chilean company, what factors contributed to the company’s expansion of helicopter transportation services to neighboring countries?

The company is part of Ecocopter Holdings, which covers Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. In Chile, we mainly focus on providing services to companies in the mining, tourism, and telecommunications sectors. For example, in Punta Arenas, we provide offshore services to transport cargo and personnel to offshore platforms. In 2018, we decided to enter Ecuador after receiving requests from some of the major mining companies there. We had already worked with them in Chile, so they requested the same level of services for their Ecuador operations. We saw that opportunity for expansion and started the project in 2018. We incorporated the company and did all the required paperwork. It took us about six months to complete the entire process, which was quite fast. We sent all the personnel to re-train in Chile and go through our own training process in order to provide the same level of service in Ecuador, so that we can count on highly skilled local workforce. We are specialized in passenger and cargo transport in a highly mountainous environment, which fits perfectly within Ecuador’s geography.

How are you advancing the sector in Ecuador?

The helicopter sector is not very developed, which is why we saw an opportunity to expand into Ecuador. Ecocopter in Chile founded the first association of private helicopter operators, which was a great step to develop the sector. We are happy to share our experiences with other players in the sector so the market can eventually develop. We are willing to work alongside other companies because we believe in healthy competition. Air transportation is a sector in which there is a lot of passion. By expanding our fleet we will able to serve more clients and maintain our high security standards. We are also doing some humanitarian initiatives in Chile, which is an important leg of our CSR policy. When we go to remote areas, we visit schools to give children a chance to see a helicopter so that they can aspire to become a pilot. This is part of a strategy to democratize helicopter services in South America. ✖