Taking a helicopter to Cheltenham Festival is the cleanest way to do it. London is about 30 minutes in the air against roughly three hours on the road, and you land a few hundred metres from the course. The catch is that the Festival (Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 March 2027) is the busiest four days of the year for rotor aircraft in this part of England, and almost everything about it is controlled.
This guide compares the three ways people actually arrive by air or avoid the road: a helicopter direct to the racecourse, a fixed-wing flight into Gloucestershire Airport with a short transfer, and driving. All market prices below come from published operator and broker pages. Treat them as a guide and check before booking.
Can you fly by helicopter to the Cheltenham Festival?
Yes. Cheltenham accepts private and chartered helicopters at a temporary helipad on the north-east side of the course, run by Air Charter Service, the Jockey Club's air partner. Every landing has to be arranged in advance, and you need a valid race day ticket for each passenger.
The Jockey Club describes the Festival helipad as the biggest of its kind in the UK during the week, fully licensed, with more than 400 flights across the four days. Air Charter Service reported nearly 350 helicopters in 2023. Either way, that is a lot of rotors in a small space, and it only works because of the rules below.
On arrival a member of the helipad team meets you, takes you to a private enclosure and then a chauffeur-driven car runs you to the stands. Air Charter Service says guests reach the grandstand within about ten minutes of landing. Afterwards the same car takes you back to the helicopter, which is the part people underrate. You skip the car parks, the queue for the taxi rank and the M5.
How do racecourse landings work?
All visiting aircraft must be pre-booked, pilots must complete insurance indemnities and take a briefing before landing permission is issued, and no one lands or leaves during racing. You cannot turn up and ask.
The Jockey Club's Cheltenham arrival page sets out the timing rules in two lines:
- No landings within 30 minutes of the first race.
- No take-offs until 30 minutes after the last race, unless the Clerk of the Course gives permission.
On the Jockey Club's published 2027 schedule, gates open at 10:30, the first race is at 13:20 and the last at 17:20 (times can change). In practice you need to be on the ground by about 12:50, and you should not plan to lift before about 17:50. That second rule is the one that surprises people. A helicopter is not a way to leave early. It is a way to leave the course without sitting in traffic afterwards.
A few other points that matter:
- Fixed-wing aircraft cannot land at the racecourse. The Jockey Club states that the course has no facilities for fixed wing aircraft and points to Staverton, five nautical miles away.
- Contact details vary between Jockey Club pages. Some pages direct pilots to the helipad operator, others to Air Charter Service. If you are booking through a broker or operator, they handle the permission. If you are an owner or pilot booking directly, confirm the current contact before you rely on any number you find online.
- Owners and trainers arriving by helicopter should tell the Cheltenham Owners Desk in advance so tickets and badges are waiting at the heli-field entrance.
- Tickets come first. You show race day tickets at the helipad, so the flight is worthless until the hospitality or Club Enclosure tickets are sorted. For reference, DTB Sports and Events lists 2027 hospitality from about £505 per person excluding VAT on Tuesday and Thursday, rising to £650 or more on Friday, with some Wednesday products already sold out.
Check the Jockey Club's helicopter travel page before you commit, because the arrangements are reviewed each year.
Can you fly a plane to Cheltenham Racecourse? Fixed-wing into Gloucestershire Airport
Not to the course itself, but you can fly a plane to Gloucestershire Airport (EGBJ, Staverton) and be at the racecourse in a few minutes by helicopter shuttle or road. It is the standard answer for anyone arriving by turboprop or light jet.
Gloucestershire Airport sits about four miles west of Cheltenham town, close to the M5, and is around five nautical miles (roughly six miles) from the racecourse by the Jockey Club's and Global Charter's figures. Its main runway 09/27 is about 1,431 metres of asphalt, which is comfortable for a Pilatus PC-12, a King Air and the light jets in our turboprop vs light jet comparison. It has a fixed base operator on site, and a separate jet operator, The Little Jet Company, runs from the adjoining apron.
Expect it to be busy in Festival week, since the 2023 racing briefing for pilots warned the airfield was likely to get busy. Ask your operator to confirm apron space and any prior-permission requirement with the handler. Published runway lengths vary slightly between sources (roughly 1,420 to 1,430 metres), so have the operator check the current UK AIP figure against the aircraft's performance. Customs and immigration availability is reported inconsistently, which matters if you are arriving from Ireland or the Continent, so confirm it before you book.
From the apron you have two ways in:
- Helicopter shuttle. Heliflight UK ran a shared shuttle from Gloucestershire Airport to the racecourse for the 2023 Festival, priced at £295 per person one way or £445 return including VAT, with a minimum of four passengers. Those are 2023 prices, so expect them to have moved. The shuttle lands you at the course in minutes, and combined jet and helicopter quotes were offered together.
- Car. The airport to the course is a short drive on a normal day. On Festival days the roads around Cheltenham are not normal, and you are paying for the aircraft so that the last six miles do not eat your afternoon.
For a wider look at which airfield suits which trip, our guide to flying private from London covers the departure end.
How long does it take and what does it cost from London, Manchester and Ireland?
From London a helicopter takes about 30 to 40 minutes and one-way private charters start from around £2,500. Air Charter Service quotes 30 minutes from central London, while Global Charter quotes 40 minutes from Battersea. That spread is the difference between a direct line from a west London site and a routing from the heliport.
Published helicopter times to Cheltenham from Global Charter and Air Charter Service:
- Birmingham: about 20 minutes
- Cardiff: about 30 minutes
- Central London / Battersea: 30 to 40 minutes
- Cambridge: about 45 minutes
- Manchester: about 60 minutes
Helicopters available for charter range from the AS355 Twin Squirrel (five passengers) to the AW109 (six) and the AW139 (nine). Prices depend on the aircraft, the route and the date, and operators rarely publish them. The firm figure that is public is Global Charter's: one-way helicopter charters from London typically start from £2,500, with early booking strongly recommended. That is for the aircraft, not per seat, so a group of five in an AS355 splits it down quickly.
For fixed-wing, Global Charter lists round-trip pricing from €9,500 for a Pilatus PC-12 from Dublin Weston. Our own small aircraft charter cost guide puts PC-12 charter at £1,600 to £3,400 an hour. A London to Staverton hop is well under an hour of flying, so a turboprop from a London airfield lands in the low thousands each way on those rates, before handling, and Festival week usually adds a premium. For Ireland, the great-circle distance from Dublin to Staverton is about 180 nautical miles, so expect roughly an hour and a quarter in a PC-12. Those two figures are our own estimates, not operator quotes.
None of this is fixed. Quotes move with fuel, positioning flights and how full the week is. That is the reason to ask early, and ask more than one operator.
Which day of the Festival is hardest to fly into?
Friday 19 March, Gold Cup day. It is the biggest day of the week, so it has the most demand for helicopters, the tightest helipad slots and the highest hospitality prices. Hospitality that costs about £705 on Tuesday is £810 on Friday in the same restaurant, according to DTB's 2027 listings.
The 2027 days run: Tuesday 16 March (Champion Day), Wednesday 17 March (Ladies Day), Thursday 18 March (St Patrick's Thursday) and Friday 19 March (Gold Cup Day).
What that means for a group:
- Tuesday is the lighter end of the week on price, with hospitality from about £505 per person, and it opens with the Champion Hurdle, so it is a serious racing day.
- Wednesday and Thursday sit in between. Some Wednesday hospitality products are already sold out.
- Friday is the day to lock in first. Everyone lands before the same pre-racing cut-off and leaves after the same post-racing window, so the helipad is at its tightest.
On the roads, National Highways has previously warned that the busiest times are about 9:30am to 12:30pm each day, with delays on the M5 between junctions 9 and 11, the A40 west of junction 11 and the A46. Gloucestershire County Council ran a park and ride from Arle Court in 2026. If you are weighing a drive, plan for a very early arrival and do not plan to leave straight after the last race.
Helicopter, plane plus shuttle, or drive: side by side
Here is how the three compare. Times and prices are published market figures or our own estimates, flagged where they apply.
| Helicopter direct | Fixed-wing to Gloucestershire Airport, then shuttle | Drive from London | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time from London | 30 to 40 minutes in the air | Around 25 to 35 minutes in the air plus transfer (our estimate) | Around 3 hours (Air Charter Service) |
| Lands or parks | ACS helipad, a few hundred metres from the course | Gloucestershire Airport, about 5 nm from the course | Car parks or park and ride |
| Market cost | From £2,500 one-way for the aircraft (Global Charter) | PC-12 or similar at £1,600 to £3,400 per hour, plus handling and a shuttle (£295 one-way per person in 2023) | Fuel, parking, or coach and train |
| Best for | Groups of 4 to 9 who want door to near-door | Groups from Ireland, Manchester or further north, or 6 to 8 people wanting one aircraft | Budget, flexibility, large parties |
| Main risk | Slot and weather, no take-off until 30 minutes after the last race | Apron space, handling, and the final transfer | Traffic in, and out |
| Booking pressure | Highest of the three | High | Parking passes and coach seats |
A simple way to choose: if you are coming from London or the south and want to be on the ground quickly with a group of up to nine, use a helicopter direct. If you are coming from Ireland, the north or abroad, fly fixed-wing to Staverton and add the shuttle. If you are watching the budget and you do not mind an early start, drive, and leave before the 9:30 surge.
For corporate groups, the practical pattern is one aircraft and one point of contact. Our Business page is where team travel sits. For individuals and families, private aviation is where the aircraft side sits. We wrote the same comparison for Goodwood by helicopter or plane, and the same logic applies there.
When should you book?
Book as soon as your tickets are confirmed, and for Gold Cup day treat the autumn as the working window. Air Charter Service says demand is very high during the Festival and Global Charter strongly recommends early booking. Operators price by the day and by the aircraft, so ask for a written quote.
A sensible order of operations for March 2027:
- Tickets or hospitality first. The flight is useless without them, and several products are already sold out.
- Pick your day and a fallback. Have a second day or a second route in mind for Friday.
- Ask for quotes now. Prices move, but availability goes.
- Ask each operator three things. Where does the helipad slot come from? What happens in low cloud? What is the cancellation position?
- Plan the weather. March can bring low cloud and wind. A fixed-wing flight to Staverton plus a road transfer is a good back-up if the helicopter cannot fly.
- Check the briefing. Aircraft landing at the racecourse have to follow the Jockey Club's procedures, so read what you are sent.
How we handle it
Our job is speed and judgement. We check which operators can get you a helipad slot, which have aircraft positioned near you, and whether the helicopter, the turboprop plus shuttle or the car is the right call for your group and your day. We pair the best information we can get with people who make the calls to operators, handlers and ground transport, so the plan holds when the weather or the schedule changes.
If you want us to look at Cheltenham, send us the day, the number of people and where you are flying from. We come back with what is realistic and what it will cost in the market.