Our Team
Nick
Director & CEO
The wiz of operations! Sonya has been with us since the beginning in 2015 and maintains all things operations and within our office. Growing up on a small farm in Dunedin, Sonya lives and breathes the outdoors and has been around helicopters well before she found herself within the industry.
Sonya also plays a crucial role in our community projects, while being a volunteer for Fire and Emergency NZ, Sonya has extensive knowledge and assists our team when we need to get an aircraft to put out a wildfire.
Sonya's passion for the outdoors also takes her hunting many weekends of the year and is great at chatting to our customers who are interested in our bespoke heli excursions. Living in Glenorchy she is at the doorstep to paradise, with her favourite flight being Fiordland's Finest as it really showcases it all!
Blair
Director and Maintenance Controller
Blair is our Director and Maintenance Controller, with a vast 25 years in the industry Blair always knew he wanted to get into the Helicopter engineering business due to the technically challenging nature of the job and an interest in the workings of aircraft themselves.
Growing up in Palmerston North, Blair is an adventurer at heart and loves all things outdoors. Blair has been with Heliworks for 6 years and takes care of our engineering team ensuring our fleet is safe, up to standards and looks great.
In his spare time you will never catch him inside as he is going to be out in the hills on a bike, racing through the rivers in a jetboat or buried deep in a turbo engine or hot rod build.
Eric
Head Pilot
Eric is a true local. Born and bred in Glenorchy, Eric and his family have a long history with the area, so you can be sure to hear many stories with Eric at the wheel (stick!). He also knows the best spots!
Eric has accumulated 5,000+ hours of flying in the New Zealand skies. He has been involved in a variety of work from mustering and wild animal recovery and culling to long-lining and sluicing. He also enjoys spending time with our guests on scenic and private charter flights.
Away from working as a helicopter pilot, Eric will be on the farm, hunting in the hills, tinkering with machinery and metal work, and spending time with his wife Steph and daughter, Miller.
Jacko
Pilot
Chris (better known as Jacko) has over 28 years of experience, having started flying at the age of 15.
With over 9,000 hours of flying, there’s not too much Jacko can’t fly – from gliders and microlights to bush planes, float planes, warbirds, aerobatics, single and multi engine helicopters.
Jacko has flown extensively throughout the South Island of New Zealand, as well as Canada and Kashmir.
Jacko’s favourite scenic flight is our Fiordland Finest as he says it showcases the best of the lower South Island with contrasting views of alpine lakes, the rugged West Coast, Milford Sound, mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and the exclusive Earnslaw Burn.
Ben
Safety Manager & Pilot
Growing up in Gisborne, BJ has been flying all over the world with experience in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia to name a few. With 24 years experience and growing BJ has always wanted to fly since he was a young boy.
The mighty Earnslaw burn is his favourite landing spot in the beautiful Queenstown. BJ’s passion for flying expanded in Papua New Guinea getting to fly in two pilot operations with Bruce Kingan who first inspired him to start flying.
BJ is our safety manager and takes care of all safety operations under the Heliworks umbrella, ensuring cutomers get the most enjoyable and safe experience with us.
Tess
General Manager
Thriving from a passion for tourism, sales and marketing. Growing up in Invercargill, Tess has had an extensive career working in varied industries between New Zealand and Australia; after working in Australia, Tess and family made the move back to New Zealand knowing she was rearing to get back into tourism.
Tourism allows Tess to show visitors one of the most spectacular countries in the world, especially the region we are in. Being apart of the Heliworks team and getting developing fun and exciting new helicopter products is the best part of her job – her favourite flight would by far be the Fiordland’s Finest or anything including the Earnslaw Burn.
When she is not working on exciting new products or sales plans you will catch her spending time with her family, camping , boating or just chilling out at home.
For all things sales and marketing, chat with Tess today!
Sonya
Office Manager
The wiz of operations! Sonya has been with us since the beginning in 2015 and maintains all things operations and within our office. Growing up on a small farm in Dunedin, Sonya lives and breathes the outdoors and has been around helicopters well before she found herself within the industry.
Sonya also plays a crucial role in our community projects, while being a volunteer for Fire and Emergency NZ, Sonya has extensive knowledge and assists our team when we need to get an aircraft to put out a wildfire.
Sonya's passion for the outdoors also takes her hunting many weekends of the year and is great at chatting to our customers who are interested in our bespoke heli excursions. Living in Glenorchy she is at the doorstep to paradise, with her favourite flight being Milford, Lakes and Sutherland Falls as it really showcases it all!
Wataru
Ground Crew & Pilot
Wataru is a key member of our outstanding Ground Crew team at Heliworks, bringing his expertise and dedication to the role after many years of hard work, making him one of our veterans.
In addition to his responsibilities on the ground, Wataru is a qualified helicopter pilot. Providing invaluable assistance to our pilots during pre-flight preparations and landings, ensuring smooth operations every step of the way.
You’ll often find Wataru behind the wheel of our courtesy vehicles, ensuring our special travellers are picked up promptly and are filled with excitement for their upcoming flight.
Mark
Ground Crew & Pilot
Mark is our junior pilot, with a passion for Aviation after growing up on his family farm in Cheviot, North Canterbury. Mark would watch the helicopters as they came to spray on the farm and knew he wanted to be up in the sky. In his downtime, he loves being out in the hills hunting and working on the farm up in Glenorchy.
Mark has been working with Heliworks for around 2 years, building up experience and flying hours to progress in his flying career.
Shar
Engineering Apprentice
Growing up in Warkworth, Shar found herself drawn to the Aviation/ Helicopter industry through family. Shar studied a level 4 certificate in Aeronautical Engineering and is now an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Apprentice.
With a mere two years before Shar can apply for her licence, she is the only superwoman in our skilled engineering squad.
When Shar is not taking care of our fleet you will catch her mountain biking or spending weekends in Wānaka.
Ivy
Chinese Sales Manager
Our newest office recruit, Ivy has been working within the helicopter aviation industry for seven years with reservations and a strong background in customer service.
Growing up in Southern China in Guangzhou, Ivy moved to New Zealand coming up on eleven years and has a passion for tourism. Ivy’s favourite landing location would have to be Lake Erskine and she is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin.
When she is not running around her two kids she loves to go snowboarding up in the mountains, take care of her garden or walking her furry baby Cola.
Annalise
Sales and Marketing Executive
Annalise is a fresh face that recently started in the Sales and Marketing team, coming from Auckland after finishing her Bachelor of Commerce.
Coming into a new industry, aviation is opening up a whole new world and being surrounded by the beauty of Queenstown and getting to share that with visitors is truly breathtaking. Sharing this beauty into the next generation through social media, check out all of our social media channels to see what we get up to.
In her spare time you will catch Annalise hanging out with her family/ flatmates, binging a new documentary or reading and spending countless hours on Tik Tok.
For all things sales and social media, chat with Annalise.