Helicopter travel takes off in China during Spring Festival rush

On-demand helicopter services gained momentum during the Chinese New Year amid a travel rush, giving a boost to the country’s low-altitude economy. Demand increased significantly during the hectic holiday period, with overall bookings rising nearly 1.5 times compared with normal levels, said Li Xin, a manager at Shanghai Xinkong Helicopter, in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV). Capitalising on the rush, the operator launched a new route on Monday linking Shanghai with Haimen and Kunshan cities in neighbouring eastern Jiangsu province, according to the Securities Times. The company’s helicopter can carry three passengers and four standard suitcases, with each leg taking 25 minutes. Gu Wenjun, another representative at Shanghai Xinkong, said in an interview with the Securities Times that the company had launched five more routes to locations in Zhejiang, another neighbouring province, and Jiangsu during the holiday to accommodate increasing demand. Marketing director Zhang Xuefeng said that Xinkong planned to expand its service network to a total of at least 45 routes in the Yangtze River Delta region by 2030. The CCTV report said that a one-way helicopter flight between Shanghai and Nantong, priced at 698 yuan (US$101), took about 30 minutes – reducing travel time by 70 per cent compared with driving. The surge in on-demand helicopter services provides an alternative for travellers looking to beat the crowds during China’s annual Spring Festival travel rush, dubbed the world’s largest human migration. Chinese travellers are likely to undertake 9.5 billion passenger journeys from February 2 through March 13. New helicopter routes are sprouting across the country. In the southern Guangdong province, a special Spring Festival low-altitude route was launched between Hengqin in Zhuhai and Shenzhen, slashing the intercity trip to just 30 minutes, according to the Securities Times. Another helicopter service, linking Nanchong in southwest China’s Sichuan province and Chongqing, debuted during the holiday. Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu were expected to pioneer regular low-altitude travel by 2027, said Luo Jun, director of the Future Low-Altitude Economy Innovation Center of Sichuan Tianfu New Area, in an interview with the Securities Times. The robust consumer demand for new helicopter routes comes as China promotes its low-altitude economy, which refers to aerial economic activities up to 1km (0.6 miles) above the surface of the Earth, including drones and aircraft.