COMMERCIAL HELICOPTER SERVICES
Nautilus Aviation has extensive experience delivering commercial helicopter services across Northern Australia. We have proven expertise in aerial surveys; sling, heavy and precision lifting operations; and meeting the specific needs of clients in a diverse range of sectors including government, mining resources, and media.
Our emergency service response provides crucial community support by assisting in search and rescue operations, and during natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and bushfires.
We have commercial aviation bases located across North Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Our team of highly experienced pilots, commitment to safety, large and diverse fleet, in-house privately owned maintenance facilities and refuelling infrastructure allows us to offer a wide range of technical and commercial helicopter services, including those when a high readiness rate is required.
Nautilus Aviation holds BARS Gold accreditation (Basic Aviation Risk Standard) and ISO 9001.
NORTH QUEENSLAND
Cairns, Port Douglas, Townsville and Horn Island – PH: 07 4034 9000 (option 3) / E: [email protected]
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Darwin, Jabiru & Gove – PH: 08 8945 0944 / E: [email protected]
CAPABILITIES & EXPERTISE
AERIAL SERVICES AND REMOTE AREA OPERATIONS
Remote and sometimes isolated, Northern Australia can be a challenging region to work.
At both our North Queensland and Northern Territory bases, Nautilus Aviation works closely with our government, mining, resource and telecommunications clients to provide an agile mode of transport to access these remote areas, while ensuring deadlines are met on budget.
Our Services:
- Mining support
- Geochemical sampling
- Pipeline inspection
- Powerline inspection
- Radio communication tower maintenance
- Government agency projects
- Maritime
- Feral animal control
- Policing and surveillance
- Border security

AERIAL SURVEYS
Our helicopters offer safe and efficient mapping solutions for aerial surveys and are fitted with the latest GPS systems, allowing recorded data to be overlaid onto satellite images or imported to GIS software with ease.
Nautilus Aviation has a proven track record completing aerial survey projects across North Queensland and the Northern Territory for government agencies and universities.
Survey options available:
- Weed surveys
- Sea grass surveys
- Mine and geological surveys
- Cultural surveys
- Flora and fauna spotting
- Great Barrier Reef surveys
Don’t see it on the list? Contact us about any other survey requirements you have, and we’ll work with you on a solution.

SLING, HEAVY & PRECISION LIFTING
Nautilus Aviation is the sling, heavy and precision lifting operation to assist you to move equipment including remote and inaccessible areas.
Our helicopters have long-line capability including all the equipment required to suit for a broad range of situations – all tested and maintained to the national standard. Our experienced long-line pilots are experts at precision operations in various locations.
Nautilus Aviation are your Heavy Lift helicopter experts in Northern Australia housing a Bell 212S (Eagle Single) with external load of 1800kg on the hook.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Nautilus Aviation is trusted by government agencies across Australia due to our outstanding reputation built on the quality and diversity of our fleet, our focus on safety, and our proven ability to deliver the highest quality service.
Given the sheer size and scale of Australia, Nautilus Aviation’s coverage in remote areas enables us to service our government clients with ease, even on short timeframes.
We can help with:
- Remote health access
- Infrastructure technology solutions
- Remote electoral and voting assistance
- Communities, housing & digital economies
- Remote education
- Parks and wildlife monitoring and management
- Defence and border security

MEDIA, PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMING APPLICATIONS
Our fleet of helicopters located at our Queensland and Northern Territory bases provide smooth and comfortable transport for any film or photographic project. This coupled with our ability to access remote areas means television news crews can to get to most scenes when important news needs to be covered.
Nautilus Aviation is able to rig camera equipment including gimbals to the exterior of the helicopter and doors can be removed to provide a clear field of view to ensure unobstructed shots, whilst still keeping safety paramount. With a seamless collaboration between pilot and photographer, we can safely manoeuvre into any position to capture the desired shots at the right composition and light.

OUR COMMERCIAL FLEET
Operating from our multiple bases across Northern Australia, Nautilus Aviation’s modern and versatile fleet of helicopters suits a range of commercial helicopter services and emergency response requirements.
NORTH QUEENSLAND
Our bases in QLD feature a large fleet of aircraft including Bell 212S (Eagle Single) for Heavy Lift operations, Bell 429, Bell 407 GXi, Airbus H125, Airbus H130, Longranger and Robinson 44 aircraft. We operate a Bell 412 EP for our Search & Rescue operations.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
We operate Bell 206, Bell 206L and Bell 407 aircraft from Darwin Airport for commercial aviation services. At Kakadu’s Jabiru Aerodrome we operate Bell 407 and Bell 206 aircraft; and have a Bell 206L available in Gove. Nautilus Aviation’s flexibility means we can relocate aircraft and pilots easily from base to base to meet our client’s requirements. Our team of highly accredited pilots are backed by experienced flight operations personnel, dedicated in-house maintenance, refuelling infrastructure and logistical support to make our service a safe and reliable choice for all of you commercial helicopter requirements.
COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT OPERATED BY NAUTILUS AVIATION
CONCRETE KIBBLE
Concrete can be loaded into the kibble and delivered to site that have limited access as an external load.
LIDAR AND GPS MAPPING
Providing pinpoint data for the mining industry.
LONG LINES
Popular safe ‘Barry Cordage’ long lines are available to move equipment in and out of inaccessible areas. Lines up to 200 ft in length are used, allowing in-house specialist pilots to place heavy lift items like water, drill rigs, power poles and general equipment into hard to access or remote locations. Remote hooks can be utilised for specialist work where ground crew limitations or job requirements are needed. All long-line equipment is tested and maintained to the national standard on a set schedule.
FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY
The varied fleet enables a range of options for any camera requirements from the Tyler Nose and Middlemounts, to the latest in Cineflex and Shot Over K1 HD Gyro stabilised camera systems.
FLIR
The sensors installed in ‘forward-looking infrared’ cameras (as well as those of other thermal imaging cameras) use detection of infrared radiation, typically emitted from a heat source (thermal radiation), to create a ‘picture’ assembled for video output. FLIR is a great search and rescue tool for locating civilians in dense bushland, water or remote areas. Additionally, FLIR is a great firefighting tool with the ability to pinpoint hot spots after the fire front (not visible to the naked eye) has passed.
INCENDIARY MACHINE
Controlled aerial dropping in aid of back burning or controlled burns in hard to access locations.
FUEL TRAILERS / TRUCKS
Remote fuelling of aircraft makes it possible for helicopters to stay on task for longer. Nautilus Aviation has a Fuel Truck (Jet A1) with a 20,000 litre capacity that can be deployed locally and remotely to assist with our Commercial Helicopter Services.