Darren’s been heavily involved in specialist ag flying since the 1990s, and holds the top agricultural certification.

With the South Island’s largest helicopter, our Huey, we also provide farmers great solutions for larger tracts of land.

The Huey’s capacity, power and precision mean it’s often the most cost-effective, efficient helicopter for the big spraying and fertilising jobs by a country mile. We typically have the work done and dusted in a fraction of the time, too, meaning less downtime.

Our Hughes 500D is an agile, cost-effective option for smaller fert and spray areas, and other ag work.

Southern Heli Lift’s aviators are highly-skilled, knowledgeable ag pilots. As a result, we have a reputation for accuracy and particularly high kills rates in our weed eradication work.

We also specialise in fire lighting, frost-fighting and aerial mustering.

As well as bringing decades of experience, hands-on knowledge and understanding, both in farming and aviation, it’s very important to us the way we deliver is ever-mindful of the specific needs and realities of our rural clients.

We pride ourselves on being easy to deal, and work, with.

Our team takes the time with our rural clients at the scoping stage to identify solutions that are in their best interests.

We use the GPS and job management system TracPlus to further ensure efficiency, accuracy and accountability.

We’re timely, we communicate clearly and proactively, our pricing is fair and transparent, and we take a robust approach to health and safety.