Lion Helicopters: Smart Access Control Takes Flight

How a Czech aviation specialist replaced physical key handovers with mobile access and gained full control over its facility around the clock.

About Lion Helicopters 

Lion Helicopters is a specialised aviation company based at Hradec Kralove regional airport in the Czech Republic. Founded in 2012, the company focuses on French-built two-seater helicopters, particularly the Guimbal Cabri G2, serving both the Czech market and neighbouring countries.

Their facility is located inside a former military bunker-style hangar on the airport grounds, a setting that blends state-of-the-art helicopter technology with the character of an earlier era of aviation. Beyond aircraft delivery, Lion Helicopters offers a comprehensive range of services: operational support, maintenance, continuous airworthiness management, and pilot training.

That combination of technical precision and customer-facing operations makes reliable, flexible access management a practical necessity rather than a nice-to-have.

Managing Access in a Complex Aviation Environment

Running a helicopter facility on an active regional airport means dealing with a level of operational complexity that most businesses never encounter. Customers arrive to collect aircraft outside standard office hours, technicians need access to spare parts at short notice, and staff must move between multiple secured areas throughout the day.

For Lion Helicopters, the challenge was not abstract. Before adopting a digital access solution, the team relied on physical keys to manage all of this, which created a recurring and increasingly disruptive problem: handing keys over to customers in order for them to access the facility and take over the helicopter for their flight. At the same time, there was no reliable way to monitor or log who accessed the spare parts stock and when.

The scale of the operation may appear modest at first glance, but the demands on access management are significant.

2012 

Year founded

~20

Regular users

4+

Secured access points

24/7

Operational hours needed

From Keys to Control: Why Tapkey 

Lion Helicopters had already tested another digital access solution before switching to Tapkey. Their previous system relied on internet-connected receivers installed near lockers. In practice, this created connectivity issues that caused frustration for both staff and customers.

Tapkey introduced a different approach. Access rights can be granted or revoked digitally, without depending on constant internet connectivity at the lock itself. The system was installed at the main entrance, office doors, storage rooms, and spare parts stock.

For an aviation company, security was a critical factor in the decision. Physical keys created several operational risks. Keys could be lost, copied, or informally shared between users. With digital access, permissions are assigned directly to specific users and can be managed centrally in real time. The use of smartphones as digital keys also added an important security advantage. Unlike a traditional key, a smartphone is typically protected by a passcode, fingerprint authentication, or Face ID before the digital key can even be accessed.

Tapkey’s offline-capable approach was another decisive benefit. Access does not depend on a permanent internet connection at the door, which is especially valuable in operational environments where stable connectivity cannot always be guaranteed.

Three factors ultimately convinced Lion Helicopters:

Implementation and Results: Real Impact on Daily Operations

Setup and Deployment

Lion Helicopters uses exclusively Tapkey products across the facility. The implementation covers the main entrance, storage rooms, the spare parts stock, and office doors, giving the team a consistent access management layer across all sensitive areas.

Approximately 20 users are actively managed through the system, including staff and customers who lease aircraft.

Operational Improvement

The most immediate change was the elimination of physical key handovers. Customers are no longer dependent on the company’s opening hours to access the facility and take over their helicopter. They can arrive and depart at any time of day, including on bank holidays, without requiring a staff member to be present.

For a business where flight schedules are shaped by weather windows, airspace availability, and customer availability, this kind of temporal flexibility has a direct operational value.

Security and Access Visibility

In aviation environments, controlling access to sensitive areas is essential. Tapkey provides Lion Helicopters with visibility over who accessed specific rooms and when. This was particularly important for spare parts stock, where the company previously lacked proper access monitoring. Access rights can now be granted temporarily, adjusted remotely, or revoked immediately if required. This gives the team significantly more control compared to traditional key-based workflows.

Digital access also reduces risks related to copied or misplaced physical keys. For businesses operating in regulated or security-sensitive environments, this additional control creates operational reassurance.

User Experience

Response from the team and customers has been largely positive. As with many digital transitions, some resistance has come from older users who are less comfortable with smartphone-based systems. This is a common adoption pattern rather than a product-specific issue, and it has not prevented the broader rollout from succeeding.

What Changed in Practice

The practical difference is most visible in how Lion Helicopters interacts with its customers. Before Tapkey, every flight required coordinating a key handover, which tied customer arrivals to staff availability and office hours. That constraint is gone.

Customers can now come and go independently, and the company can manage all access permissions remotely, without being physically present at the facility. The ability to control everything from a single interface, and to revoke access instantly if needed, has transformed what was a recurring administrative headache into a background process that simply runs.

A Word from Lion Helicopters

“Our customers are no longer dependent on the open-hours of the company and they are free to come and lease the helicopter any time of the day or even during bank holidays. The ability to control all access remotely is incredible.”

Lion Helicopters team, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic 

Security processes have also improved considerably. Access logs provide transparency for sensitive areas, while remote management allows the team to respond immediately if permissions need adjustment.

Because access is tied to authenticated mobile devices, the company benefits from an additional security layer compared to traditional keys. 

The result is a more secure and efficient environment with better operational oversight.

Looking Ahead: Scaling Smart Access

Lion Helicopters has already identified the next step in their digital access journey. The team plans to integrate Tapkey with their flight planning system, which would allow access rights to be automatically tied to confirmed bookings. A customer scheduled for a morning flight would receive access automatically, without any manual action required from staff.

This kind of integration would reduce administrative workload further and tighten the link between operational scheduling and physical access, an important step for a company where safety and traceability are regulatory requirements rather than optional features.

Interview with Lion Helicopters 

“Our customers are no longer dependent on the open-hours of the company and they are free to come and lease the helicopter any time of the day or even during bank holidays. The ability to control all access remotely is incredible.”

 

 

Discover Smart Access for Your Business

Lion Helicopters shows that smart access control is not just for large facilities or tech-forward industries. Even in a specialised, regulated environment like aviation, the shift to mobile access delivers tangible improvements in flexibility, security, and operational efficiency.

Whether you manage a single site or a network of locations, Tapkey gives you the tools to control access remotely, eliminate physical key management, and maintain a complete access record at all times.

Learn more about the Tapkey Smart Lock

• Smart Access for Aviation and Industrial Sites
• Tapkey Features Overview
• Tapkey Use Case
• Request a Demo or Contact Us