Rainbow Air finally broke ground on its $10 million tourism center earlier this year as it works to bring a new helipad and entertainment facility to Niagara Falls.
Work started in February at a site next to the Niagara Business Center on Buffalo Avenue, with concrete having been poured and steel expected to be delivered in the next month.
“It’s going to go nonstop, with a grand opening in May of 2025,” Director of Operations Paul Faltyn said.
The site accessible off of Acheson Drive would have two new helipads and a 30,000 square foot tourism center.
In addition to its main route over both waterfalls that goes over Canadian airspace, helicopters will also start a new route along the Niagara River. The company is looking to purchase newer helicopters within the year for these tours.
In operation since 1995, Rainbow Air had previously operated tours of a pad near the Niagara Gorge, with the company previously saying it left due to noise complaints from residents and an inconvenient take off procedure. Flights starting the 2023 tourist season have departed from a base at Niagara Falls International Airport.
Extensive noise testing was previously done at the site involving several helicopter take-offs and landings, with Faltyn saying they were well below the decibel levels required by the city.
“It’s no different than a medium-sized truck going down the road,” Faltyn said.
Along with the new pads, the single-story tourism center will have a hangar for aircraft maintenance, a flight heritage center that will highlight the role of the Falls in the history and development of flight, a retail sales area and the flight simulator stations that will allow individuals to have the experience of flying a helicopter over the falls.
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