Helicopter Filming

Here is how this works in practice. We set up helicopter filming for productions shooting across the Czech Republic, arranging aircraft, pilots, gyro-stabilised mounts and aerial camera ops for large-scale establishing shots and high-speed tracking sequences. Helicopter aerials suit feature and series work that needs altitude, speed and the ability to carry heavy cinema payloads over long distances — coverage that drones cannot match. Our teams arrange the aircraft and the camera mount, brief pilots and operators on the shot list, and set up aerial work with the ground unit. The Czech landscape gives aerial directors a broad palette, from Prague's medieval skyline and the Vltava river valley to the castles of Bohemia, the Krkonoše Giant Mountains and the sandstone formations of Bohemian Switzerland National Park.

Here is the short of it. Helicopter operations in the Czech Republic need careful airspace and regulatory coordination. The Civil Aviation Authority (ÚCL) runs aviation under EU rules. Controlled airspace surrounds Václav Havel Airport Prague as well as Brno and Ostrava, so flight planning, clearances and notifications must be arranged well in advance. Filming over the Historic Centre of Prague — a UNESCO World Heritage site — adds permits set up through the Prague Film Commission and city authorities. Low-level work over populated areas carries further conditions.

Here is the breakdown. We manage that framework as part of the service. Productions drawn here by the Czech Film Fund's 20% cash rebate, administered by the Státní fond kinematografie, use helicopter aerials where the scale of a sequence justifies it; we schedule around the Central-European climate, supply full insurance and risk records, and budget in Czech koruna with 21% VAT.