GOZO – As I’d never seen it before!

by Sabine Cassar-Alpert

The distribution of the very first issue of GOZO plus had hardly begun, when I received a phone call to inform me that we had got ourselves a fan! An enthusiastic Dave Paterson, charismatic Scottish operator of DA Helicopter Tours and resident of Gozo since June 2004, invited the small GOZO plus team to participate in the following Sunday’s ‘Sunset Photo Safari Heli Tour’.

Excitement outweighed the butterflies in my stomach at a ratio of about four to one – there was simply no way I was going to refuse this invitation, even though a little alarm bell went off somewhere in the back of my head: If this thing were going to crash, the entire GOZO plus staff would perish!

Such fears, of course, are totally unfounded. There have been no incidents since the first helicopter service was introduced in Gozo in 1990. Additional peace of mind is given by the fact that the helicopter is practically brand-new – Helisureste’s ‘Bell 412 EP’ was manufactured in May 2005.

At 17.00 hrs we were going to meet, for lift-off at 17.15 hrs. When we arrived at the heliport, the usually tranquil arrival/departure lounge was buzzing with the anticipation of several handfuls of people, and two flights had to be operated to meet the demand. – Be sure to book your ticket in advance, because disappointment will be great if you have to watch the helicopter lift off with you left behind on the ground!

Getting seated was just a touch chaotic as everyone tried to figure out which side was going to be the best bet to enjoy the views to the max. This proved thoroughly unnecessary because our pilot Carlos, under the watchful eye and direction of Dave Paterson, made sure that each item of interest was visible from both sides, plus head-on!

If you think fifteen minutes pass incredibly quickly during your lunch break, they pass about twice as fast while you enjoy the views of Gozo from high above the ground!

I won’t bore you to tears with details of the places we saw. You probably all know the majestic cliffs of Ta’ Cenc and Xlendi, Victoria with its vigilant citadel, or the hundred and one years old statue of Jesus the Redeemer, to mention but a few. The exciting part of this flight is not about what you are going to see. It is how you are going to see these sights, which makes all the difference: it is indeed Gozo, as you have never seen it before!

Dave Paterson’s visionary entrepreneurship spans a quarter of a century, during which a fistful of highly successful ventures have seen the light of day under his supervision. Having operated from Scotland and England, to virtually every European country and beyond, the question beckons: What on earth led him to Gozo? “My love for the Mediterranean and for Africa,” he says, “and the fact that Gozo is located in between.”

The introduction of his popular helicopter photo safari over Gozo is only a small wheel in the machinery of his plans to put Gozo firmly on the map of quality tourism. Dave’s ultimate target is to connect our island not only to Malta but also to Sicily, and other destinations within easy reach in the Mediterranean. Setting up private charter flights is his pet project, and he dreams of a ring of helipads around the Maltese islands, so gridlock on Maltese roads would be easily avoided.

However, a lot of red tape is hindering the achievement of his goal to bring the often cited ‘up-market’ tourists, who in his opinion should be replacing the day-trippers, who are merely crumbs falling off the Maltese table.

Dave Paterson battles all obstacles with the fervour of a Don Quixote fighting windmills. But unlike the delusional Spanish knight, Dave is focussed on the task in hand, and he is confident that the outcome will be successful. He likens the struggles he is facing with his operations out of Scotland, where “every single decision had to come from London”, whereas in Gozo everything has to be approved by people sitting over in Malta.

Against all odds Dave did succeed in Scotland – it would definitely be an asset to our tourist industry if his plans took off in Gozo too!