The Tatler Guide to Staying Above it All
Alternative ways to fly during the pandemic
At 123 storeys, the view from the upper reaches of the Ritz-carlton, Hong Kong is about the closest thing to the feeling of looking out over the city from the comfort of the skies that I’ve experienced in a long time. Before the pandemic, I was flying at least once a month. Now I’m trying to recreate the sensation of being in an aircraft by spending a night in a skyscraper with some friends.
After two too many glasses of champagne on one such night, we decided to turn the seating nook along the window into our very own first-class cabin. We enclosed ourselves against the window using the black-out curtains as my friend clasped her hands over her mouth to create a muffled announcement.
“Good evening passengers, this is your captain speaking,” she began. “We are now beginning our descent into Hong Kong International Airport ...”
God, we miss flying. You probably do, too, only you’re far too grounded and classy to put your nose against the glass. And so, we’ve researched a few ways you can take to the skies the Tatler way— obviously ones that don’t require boarding a commercial flight, but also that require no mindnumbing waits at Immigration or bag collection, and no screaming children. First class all the way.
BLAST OFF
Live out your Iron Man fantasies (not the ones involving Robert Downey Jr) with your very own jet suit by Uk-based startup Gravity.
The stuff of science-fiction dreams, let your geek flag fly as you soar into the air. The custom-built suit is loaded with five small jet engines, and the mounds strapped to your arms are used to direct where you want to go, just like the Marvel Comics hero. You’ll also need Tony Stark’s money if you want to get your hands on one, as they cost US$440,000.
The suit weighs about 25kg, plus an additional 10kg of Jet A1 or diesel fuel, and has a coasting speed of up to 128km/h.
In September 2020, Gravity’s founder, Richard Browning, teamed up with the UK’S Great North Air Ambulance Service to demonstrate how the suit could be used by a paramedic to deliver critical care in a mountain rescue emergency. It took just 90 seconds by air, compared to 25 minutes by foot, to reach the simulated emergency site. Perhaps superheroes are real, after all.
JUMP OUT OF A PLANE
The Maldives has remained one of the more accessible destinations during the pandemic, and we’re not complaining. But spending day after day lying on a crisp white sun lounger on the deck of your overwater bungalow between five-star meals and massages can get, well, unexciting.
Niyama, a private island resort in the archipelago, offers a rush of adrenaline with a new skydiving experience. At 12,000 feet, you, strapped to an instructor, will jump into a one-minute freefall before a parachute opens for a blissful five-minute glide back to earth over views of the Indian Ocean.
You can even have your own production crew, and by that we mean an additional skydiver who takes the leap with you for the sole purpose of recording your experience from a different vantage point. After all, it’s all about angles. Especially when you have 200km/h winds blowing against your face (this is where that pre-vacation Botox could come in handy).
GET TO THE CHOPPER
Arriving to lunch or dinner by helicopter is quite the flex. The Peninsula Hong Kong’s “Fly and Dine” package starts with an 18-minute sight-seeing tour on board the hotel’s private helicopter, followed by a meal at one of the hotel’s restaurants.
If you’re the type to BYO helicopter, The Peninsula Manila and The Peninsula Bangkok also have helipads, which are useful if you want to beat that notorious big city traffic.
Singapore Heli-services offers a 45-minute joy ride around the island nation, flying over the Marina Bay area, the Avatar-like Supertrees of Gardens by the Bay and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve so you can create your very own Crazy Rich Asians montage
Fun fact: According to German manufacturer Volocopter, Singapore is set to welcome the world’s first electric-powered air taxi service by 2023. Grab, we hardly knew ye.
FLOAT IN SPACE
Retired Nasa engineer Nicole Stott has said that sensory deprivation tanks were “the closest I have ever come to the zero gravity of space on Earth”. Taking note, Float Co in Hong Kong has combined flotation therapy with Virtual Reality technology in an attempt to recreate the feeling of floating in space.
The water, combined with 500kg of Epsom salt, is made twice as dense as the Dead Sea for optimum weightlessness. Once you’ve strapped on the VR headset, it’s time for take-off. Guided by gentle narration, you’re taken on a journey over oceans, desert and snowy tundra before blasting into orbit and sailing through a sea of stars, as projected using real footage taken from the International Space Station.
Of course, you could always recreate this experience at home, wherever that is, thanks to companies like Royal Spa and Dream Pod. When it comes to VR headsets, the 2020 Red Dot Design Award winner, XTAL by Vrgineers is the best that money can buy.
RISE ABOVE
The five-star Tanah Gajah (formerly The Chedi Club) in Ubud, Bali is home to the island’s only hot air balloon experience ... kind of. The basket is tethered to the property for a gentle 50-metre ascent, where you’ll get 360-degree views of tropical jungle, Ubud’s rice paddies and Mount Agung in the distance. Rides happen at both dawn and dusk to capture the ethereal light that begins and ends each day on the Island of the Gods.
JUMP OFF A CLIFF
Feel like throwing yourself off a cliff after the madness of this last year? We can relate, and we’re here to tell you how: paragliding. Together with an experienced instructor, you’ll get a running start to build momentum and once the wing is up, all you have to do is hang back and enjoy
the view. Being completely exposed to the elements, it definitely trumps any window seat.
Throughout Asia, there are plenty of places to try out this simultaneously extreme yet relaxing sport, from Lantau Island or Sai Kung in Hong Kong to scenic Nantou County in Taichung, Taiwan, to the forests of Kuala Kubu Bharu in Malaysia.
Another option is parasailing. Much closer to earth than paragliding and with only water beneath you as you’re towed by a speed boat, this is far less risky than throwing yourself off a cliff, while still giving you that feeling of flying. Unless there are sharks.
So the next time you take your superyacht out for the day, be sure to load up a speed boat (your yacht does have a speed boat garage, no?) and a parachute, and anchor somewhere gorgeous for a few rounds.
If even that scares you, you can always re-enact the iconic Titanic scene at the bow of your yacht. Apparently, it feels like flying.
TAKE THE PILOT’S SEAT
At Flight Experience in Singapore, pilot hopefuls will take the reins in a replica of a Boeing 737-800 cockpit that offers views from life-size high definition screens. You’ll experience varying weather conditions and tune in to announcements from flight control. Best of all, you get to decide which airports to take off from and land in.
To land this article where we took off, the Ritz-carlton Hong Kong offers various hour-long flight simulator programmes in much more sophisticated settings than the aforementioned makeshift cabin. You can opt for a more professional experience, or simply go for a joy ride in a simulator set up in your suite. The floorto-ceiling windows make for a convincing cockpit.