Air taxis show sky-high potential
Jet setters banking on helicopter services to beat long traffic snarls
JAkArTA: It is not just cars or motorcycles. Now, a quick tap on the phone will hail you a helicopter to escape Jakarta’s notorious traffic jams.
Soaring across the skies since last December, Helicity is an “ondemand” helicopter-taxi service offering individuals fast commutes around the Indonesian capital and to nearby cities in West Java, including Bandung and Bogor.
The most popular 150km route from Jakarta to Bandung takes only 45 minutes, compared with the usual four hours by car or train.
The service connects 36 locations around Jakarta, with travelling time of no more than 15 minutes between any two destinations.
Indeed, snagging a helicopter ride could become the new way to travel for urban dwellers in trafficchoked South-East Asian cities such as Jakarta and Manila.
Such services have already made their mark in places like Sao Paulo in Brazil, and New York and Mexico City in North America, and offer a sneak peek into the future of transportation in the era of high technology and the Internet, estimated to be worth billions of dollars.
Industry players from aircraft manufacturers to air charter operators say that, like it or not, they must get into the business of on-demand air taxis or risk getting edged out.
The time is now, when companies are developing new electronic selfflying aircraft.
These vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles are touted as the future of urban air transportation. Dubai is building what it claims to be the world’s first drone taxi service.
“Air taxis have the potential to be revolutionary,” Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at aviation information firm FlightGlobal, said.
“Small aircraft zipping around cities is a great idea, but the infrastructure needs a lot of work, (as does) the framework for where and when aircraft can fly around.”
But as the air charter companies continue to work with the authorities and their partners to fine-tune their operations, they seem to have found a demographic sweet spot in the region’s growing middle-class market.
A 15-minute four-person ride with Helicity costs seven million rupiah (RM1,967); a 30-minute ride costs 11.2 million rupiah (RM3,147); and a 45-minute ride costs 16.45 million rupiah (RM4,620).
In the Philippines, a 10-minute ride with AirTaxi.ph in metropolitan Manila runs up to 22,900 pesos (RM1,700) for three passengers and 52,900 pesos (RM3,930) for six.
Flights from Manila to Cebu, 570km to the south, start at 492,800 pesos (RM36,590) for seven people.
In both instances, it works out to at least S$160 (RM470) per passenger for a short ride.
Not cheap, but nowhere near the thousands of dollars forked out by the very wealthy in the past for a service so exclusive and expensive it was dubbed “helimousine”.
Jakarta’s Shangri-La hotel, which rents its rooftop helipad for US$300 (RM1,160) a landing, said its “VIP business guests” use the helicopter to fly to and from the airport and other locations in Jakarta.
Denon Prawiraatmadja, chief executive of Indonesian air charter company Whitesky Aviation, which runs Helicity, said he was inspired by the air taxi service in Brazil and decided to replicate it in Indonesia, the region’s biggest economy.
These days, entrepreneurs and younger, tech-savvy clients who want “a very efficient and shorter” transport service will find the fees affordable, he said.
By creating another dimension in the sky ... people will be able to move efficiently and effectively ... thereby reducing congestion on the ground. Sameer Rehman
“Most business activities are in Jakarta. With more people coming, many areas there become more congested. Helicopter is one of the solutions to move from one place to another within the city,” he added.
Paj Rodriguez, the executive vice-president of Philippines-based Asian Aerospace Corporation, which operates AirTaxi.ph, also touted the advantages of helicopter travel.
“No long lines at the airport, no delayed flights, no noisy passengers making a ruckus waiting in the lounge, no sick passengers sneezing, coughing and spreading germs, no delayed and lost baggage,” he told The Straits Times.
Improved technology, new business models and the use of newer, lighter aircraft such as the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X have helped to bring down fares.
Whitesky’s American supplier Bell Helicopter is working on new VTOL vehicles with partners such as ride-hailing company Uber.
Indonesian businessman Hans Siddharta, 52, said he had taken 10 Helicity rides, mostly to Bandung to relax and meet his clients.
“Flying is more convenient and the price is now rather reasonable,” he said. “I have had enough of getting stuck in traffic jams. The cost is nothing as the service is a blessing.”
Prawiraatmadja said his company had previously served only corporate clients in sectors such as oil and gas, mining and plantation.
The charges for a two-hour booking could run up to US$11,600 (RM44,850).
He aims to expand his current fleet of three helicopter-taxis to “no fewer than 15” in five years.
And if all goes well, he added, a heliport near the main international airport will be ready by the year end to shuttle business travellers to and from downtown Jakarta.
Analysts say South-East Asia’s traffic jams are good news for aviation and transport companies looking to grow their businesses. “By creating another dimension in the sky, with various layers of those dimensions, people will be able to move efficiently and effectively ... thereby reducing the congestion on the ground,” said the company’s Asia-Pacific managing director Sameer Rehman.
Ride-hailing company Grab carried out trial flights in Manila and Jakarta – in 2016 and last year respectively – to assess market demand for a new service called Grabheli.
Outside South-East Asia, its rival Uber signed a deal with Nasa last November to help develop traffic systems for its flying taxi project called Uber Elevate, which it hoped to start testing in two years’ time.
Indonesian aviation analyst Alvin Lie said for now, helicopter-taxis will remain an “elite” transport option which is unlikely to replace mass public transport due to strict industry regulations, from aviation safety to helipad licences, and other issues, such as shortage of pilots.
So, will air taxis lift off in a big way in South-East Asia?
FlightGlobal’s Waldron said: “Perhaps one day, but there are many technological and regulatory hurdles to overcome. That said, congested cities such as Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila could benefit from such systems.”