- Source: Gummels Heliport
Gummels Heliport Paramaribo (ICAO: SMHP), is the first dedicated Heliport built in Suriname in 2015 at the Gummelsweg in the neighborhood of Kwatta near the city of Paramaribo, Suriname. Privately owned and used by the Gummels family who also own the Gum Air airline and the crop dust service Surinam Sky Farmers. The heliport is mainly used for helicopter charters and primarily for offshore development activities. At the opening of the heliport in 2015 one hangar was built, but this was soon expanded by a second hangar at the heliport in 2017. By 2022 due to the expanding operations the addition of two more hangars was accomplished. With the increasing number of flights, reaching a peak of approximately 20 heli flights in a single day with 5 helicopters, limitations on the existing apron space were encountered at the heliport. During this period the idea of developing an airport from the small gravel crop dusters airstrip at Kwatta took root.
The Gummels family have currently constructed a new 3900-foot runway at this Gummels Heliport Paramaribo. The new airport will be named Eduard Alexander Gummels (EAG) Airport and will officially be opened in 2024. EAG Management is the operator of both the Heliport Paramaribo and the new Eduard Alexander Gummels Airport. EAG Management is a sister Company of Surinam Sky Farmers N.V. and Gum Air N.V. and mainly facilitates offshore Helicopter operations serving the Oil & Gas industry. The Gum Air airline plans to utilize a new Cessna 408 SkyCourier it has on order for flights between Paramaribo, Georgetown, Port of Spain, and Cayenne. The new airport will mainly support the Oil & Gas and Cargo sectors with charter flights from 2024 on. Currently approximately 800 helicopter flights are carried out annually from this Heliport in Suriname, this is including training, evacuation, search and rescue, medical and passenger flights.
Charters
Major charter airlines and others serving this airport are:
Era Helicopters
Gum Air
Hi-Jet Helicopter Services
Overeem Air Service
Pegasus Air Services
United Air Services
See also
Suriname portal
Aviation portal
List of airports in Suriname
Transport in Suriname