From the garden of a private residence to a hunting or recreational estate, straight to the golf course or a yacht (with a helipad). From Madrid to Marbella in 1 hour and 45 minutes, or from Málaga to Gibraltar in half an hour. “A helicopter has the ability to land wherever it’s safe, without needing an airport, which gives the trip a high level of confidentiality,” explains Alberto Delgado, CEO and founder of WAG, World Aviation Group, a company encompassing all disciplines of the aviation sector. It includes a training school (with over 1,200 students; the air forces of Portugal and Latvia are trained at their centers) for airplanes, helicopters, and drones; private aviation aboard two exclusive aircraft, essential maintenance services, and operations for public services. “As an airline operator [AOC, like Iberia or Air Europa] with global recognition, we have two VIP helicopters, the Airbus EC130 B4 and Bell 429, the best and most exclusive in Spain,” notes Delgado, who is also a commercial airplane and helicopter pilot.
With headquarters in Madrid and a secondary base in Málaga, they offer everything from sightseeing tours and discreet journeys to executive transfers. “It allows you to travel from the capital to any point on the Peninsula and to the Balearic Islands non-stop, at a speed of 150 to 155 knots,” Delgado explains. They are also flying offices: “Yes, primarily it’s a means of transport that saves time and is efficient, but it’s also a symbol of desire where many deals are sealed—countless deals, actually,” reveals Delgado, who states that many companies book flight hours to impress when closing business agreements. “And since they can fly over water, they can be based on a boat,” he adds. “We’ve done it during the summer,” says the executive, who founded the company ten years ago and is also the official Bell representative in Spain and Portugal.
With both helicopters having a capacity of seven passengers plus a pilot, or two pilots plus six passengers, their interior features “a very spacious cabin with three seats facing another three, like a classy club—the most VIP configuration,” explains Delgado. Onboard, clients can enjoy any extras they desire for the trip, from snacks to internet access.
The typical client profile for this company, which operates year-round—only the destinations change—is “a high-end tourist who, in the morning, wants to explore [and fly over] the Alhambra in Granada, then visit the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, have some tapas in Seville’s Santa Cruz neighborhood, and later sleep in Marbella. For privacy reasons, they hire us through an intermediary. Or a top executive or company for corporate use,” the businessman elaborates.
The cost: 2,000 euros per flight hour for the Airbus EC130 B4 and 4,000 for the Bell 429, a next-generation twin-engine helicopter that WAG acquired in late 2023.
