Hoper: Reinventing Helicopter Travel for the Modern Traveller

For decades, helicopter travel has been viewed as the preserve of the ultra-wealthy—a luxury reserved for celebrities, executives and yacht owners. Today, that perception is changing.

At the forefront of this transformation is hoper, a global booking platform that is making helicopter travel as simple to book as a taxi. Whether it’s a private charter, a shared flight or a scenic aerial tour, the platform brings together vetted helicopter operators under one intuitive app, offering transparent pricing with flights starting from just €89.

Founded in Greece and headquartered in Athens, with operational hubs in Mykonos and Santorini, hoper was created to solve a practical travel problem rather than simply offer another luxury experience.

The idea came to Founder and CEO Demitris Memos after flying by helicopter to the island of Patmos for a wedding. While fellow guests spent hours navigating ferries and connecting transport, he arrived in around an hour. That journey revealed a simple truth: the helicopters already existed, but booking them was fragmented, inefficient and largely inaccessible.

Rather than inventing a new form of transport, hoper created a smarter way to access one that was already there.

Beginning in Greece, the company introduced scheduled shared helicopter flights that could be booked instantly through an app, creating one of the region’s first helicopter airline-style booking platforms. Today, hoper operates across nine countries, offering private charters, shared services and sightseeing experiences in some of the world’s most desirable destinations.

For travellers exploring the Greek islands, the benefits are immediate. A ferry journey that can take four hours can instead become a spectacular 15-minute flight, allowing visitors to spend more time enjoying their destination rather than travelling to it.

The network currently connects 15 destinations throughout Greece across more than 50 routes, with newly launched services to the increasingly popular islands of Naxos and Koufonisia.

Beyond Greece, hoper offers services across France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, the United States, Seychelles and South Africa. Scenic helicopter tours provide unforgettable perspectives over destinations including Los Angeles, Cape Town and the Greek islands, while private charter flights allow travellers to design journeys around their own schedules.

Summer 2026 marks another significant expansion for the company.

Clients travelling along the French Riviera will soon be able to book private helicopter flights from Cannes, Nice and Monaco directly to Milan, Florence, Portofino and Turin, creating seamless connections between two of Europe’s most glamorous regions.

Across the Atlantic, hoper will also launch operations in New York in September 2026 to coincide with the US Open Tennis Championships. The service will include private helicopter flights throughout the New York region, extending as far as the Hamptons, alongside a shared helicopter shuttle connecting JFK Airport with Manhattan—offering a faster alternative to some of the city’s most congested journeys.

The platform’s growth reflects a broader shift in traveller behaviour.

According to hoper’s latest Flight Demand Index, compiled from more than 136,000 searches, while Mykonos and Santorini remain perennial favourites, travellers are increasingly seeking quieter, more authentic island experiences.

Among American travellers, Milos has emerged as the third most searched Greek island, while British travellers have propelled Sifnos into third place, highlighting growing demand for destinations beyond the traditional hotspots. For Greek residents, Kea remains the island of choice, thanks to its close proximity to Athens, while the route between Santorini and Ios has become the most searched inter-island connection on the platform.

This data illustrates an evolving luxury traveller—one who values convenience, flexibility and access to destinations beyond the obvious.

hoper’s appeal lies not simply in speed, but in redefining accessibility. By aggregating trusted helicopter operators into one digital marketplace, the company has transformed what was once an exclusive mode of transport into practical travel infrastructure.

Whether chartering a private helicopter to a secluded villa, sharing a flight between islands, or experiencing a city’s skyline from above, travellers can book with confidence through a single platform, removing the complexity traditionally associated with helicopter travel.

As demand for seamless, time-efficient travel continues to grow, hoper is positioning itself not as a luxury novelty, but as the future of regional mobility—connecting coastlines, islands and cities in minutes rather than hours, and fundamentally changing the way travellers move around the world.