AERIAL TOURISM

An MD 902 Explorer of Heliservices soars over an urban area of Hong Kong. The company flies three such aircraft that are available for scenic flights. (Photo: Heliservices)

Helicopter tourism in the Asia-Pacific region is a booming business, with single-engine platforms dominating the market. By Gordon Arthur ROTARY RAMBLES cenic flights and aerial tours operations and new missions to countries meet demand, be close to a high-volume make up an important, though in the area. I wouldn’t say it’s growing.’ scenic attraction and have relatively low S small, sector in the Asia-Pacific civil Kessler highlighted places like , operating costs in order to attract enough market. Indeed, such operations where, even though there are few tourists to pay for the service. They must tend to be concentrated in a limited , a sizeable proportion (33%) are also be able to fly year-round. number of countries within the region. dedicated to tourism for flights over places Another boon would be a flexible civil Nadav Kessler, director of sales and like Angkor Wat. Perhaps surprisingly, aviation regulatory environment, although business development at Asian Sky Group, neither South Korea nor Taiwan registers a Kessler said that most countries in Asia- said: ‘I believe tourism is most established single air tour helicopter among their fleets. Pacific are ‘accommodating and supportive’. in Australia and New Zealand, and China Light, single-engine rotorcraft tend to Tourism flights tend to fly at lower altitudes, shows the largest potential.’ Those three dominate this specialist sector, with very so this requires more effort from operators nations top the list in Table 1, which few twin-engine models used due to their to get the necessary permits, for example. contains exclusive data provided by the greater operating costs. Kessler highlighted Asian Sky Group, showing the number of the H125, H130, Robinson R44 and Experiences down under helicopters available for aerial tours. R66 as popular platforms in this area. Underscoring the maturity of the sector, Nevertheless, Kessler told Shephard that While safety is always critical, Kessler Australasia tops Asian Sky Group’s list of aerial tourism is not a large sector, even believes the aerial tourism sector is not more tourism operators, with 104 helicopters among operators that fly multiple types of closely scrutinised than any other. ‘Safety- in Australia and 157 in New Zealand. missions. Furthermore, he does not believe wise, there shouldn’t be any differentiation Interestingly, tourism constitutes only about it is expanding in Asia-Pacific. ‘For many between these missions,’ he said. 5% of the former’s 1,907-strong rotary-wing [operators] I wouldn’t say it’s an area that He added that tourist flights are among the fleet. One major operator is Heli Experiences, they’re looking at for growth, for simplest to perform because they often follow part of the Experiences Group, which was development or [investment],’ he said. routine flight paths, do not go far offshore and established in 2007. ‘Tourism is fairly stable and, while are not undertaken at high altitudes. Heli Experiences offers two types of tour: economies are getting better, we’re not To be successful, Kessler suggested that short, scenic flights over cities that typically seeing much more demand for new operators need to be able to fly ad-hoc to last 20-30 minutes; and half- or full-day

WWW.ROTORHUB.COM VOLUME 12 NUMBER 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 ROTORHUB 7 AERIAL TOURISM

flights or to the tourist industry. There is no shortage of sights, with bountiful scenic spots such as Auckland’s cityscape, the Bay of Islands, various volcanoes in the North Island, the Southern Alps, lakes, fjords and glaciers and even opportunities for whale watching off the Kaikoura coast. Another popular use for rotorcraft in New Zealand is for adventurers to take part in ‘heli-hike’ or ‘heli-ski’ excursions in remote areas. This type of activity is somewhat unique to the country.

Going strong in Hong Kong According to figures provided by the Asian Sky Group, China operates 58 piston- engine helicopters, 43 single-engine turbine platforms, four light twin Airbus H135s and three gyroplanes in the tourism sector. Among the piston-engine aircraft, 49 are An H130 of GVHL flies through a valley in north-western India. The transportation of Hindu pilgrims is now a major part of the firm’s business. (Photo: GVHL) Robinson R44s and an additional six are R22 Beta models. In the single-turbine category, there are five Avicopter AC311s, excursions that range from 4-6h in length. is not too restricted. He also pointed out ten Airbus H125s and 11 Enstrom 480Bs. The latter generally visit a site of interest, the unique attraction of such tours: It is notable that domestic models from such as wineries/vineyards, the Great ‘Helicopters are cool!’ Avicopter are yet to break through in this Ocean Road in the state of Victoria or the However, occasional challenges remain, market, certainly in terms of tourism. Blue Mountains in New South Wales. such as weight restrictions and gaining ‘China does have high or decent demand Nikolai Heaphy-Page, director of the landing permissions, especially when for aerial tourism, and it has a lot of Experiences Group and head of marketing permits are hard to obtain from local scenic sights that would be good for such for the Ausjet Aviation Group, told Shephard councils. Heaphy-Page feels that civil tourism – there’s plenty of domestic that tourism accounts for 70-75% of its aviation regulations support the company’s tourism in China and they do use operations. The company is also involved in operations ‘as long as we respect and helicopters for this,’ Kessler explained. specialised aerial work such as photography/ abide by the safety standards enforced by ‘The issue for China is that regulations videography, marine passenger transfer, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’. make it difficult to operate freely and allow surveying (land survey/power pole scanning), ‘The government does support our creativity to adapt to the requirements mainstream media and private charters. operation as we are part of the tourism of tours to show them what they want to Heli Experiences’ fleet of 12 helicopters industry accounting for local and see. It is getting better, but I’d say that’s is spread across two bases in Melbourne international interest in the country. one country where there should be growth and Sydney and includes the Robinson However, local councils can hamper our but it’s not growing as fast as it could R44, which is used exclusively for tourist operations as helicopters can impact because of hurdles in regulations.’ flights. Other platforms used for sightseeing on noise pollution at certain times of Focusing specifically on Hong Kong, the are the JetRanger, 206L day/night,’ he added. territory’s harbour, urban skyscrapers and LongRanger and Airbus H125. These Heli Experiences is very positive about the country parks provide an ideal canvas for models double up to perform other tasks future. ‘Australia-wide, as a company, we have viewing from the air. The only company such as charters and aerial work. huge opportunities for growth and expansion authorised to offer scenic flights in the area ‘We have found that the tourism industry within the tourism industry, leveraging new is Heliservices, which was established in has continued to grow, with the helicopter locations and partnerships. As a national 1978 as part of the Kadoorie Group. The niche increasing in popularity over the last six market in general, the future shows promising operator describes itself as ‘the sole and to eight years. Growth opportunities are now growth, with opportunities opening up in line premier provider of rotary-wing services in heavily focused on the international market – with the increased interest in Australia from Hong Kong’. interest with international group travel being international markets,’ Heaphy-Page said, A spokesperson told Shephard that a large driver,’ Heaphy-Page said. and he even hinted at plans for the company Heliservices ‘offers a complete range of He highlighted the fact that there are to expand beyond the nation’s borders. aviation services, including aircraft charter unlimited destinations around Australia For New Zealand, 20% of the helicopters for sightseeing and VIP services, filming to visit via helicopter, since accessibility in the country are dedicated to scenic and photography, lifting work, power line

8 ROTORHUB AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 VOLUME 12 NUMBER 4 WWW.ROTORHUB.COM AERIAL TOURISM maintenance and methodical inspection’. that most big challenges ‘come from the attract more inbound visitors from all It even provides UAV rentals. weather in Hong Kong that may affect the over the world. The company has various options for operation of flights’, with hazards including tourists, covering standard sightseeing humidity, mist and typhoons. Pride of the routes over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Heliservices spoke glowingly of the Of the 206 helicopters in the Philippines, geoparks, as well as customised flights, support offered by Hong Kong’s Civil seven are listed by the Asian Sky Group as ranging from 15 to 45 minutes depending Aviation Department, which has given being dedicated to tourism. PhilJets Aero on the package. permission for the company to rent the Services, which also has operations in Kessler described Heliservices as a Convention and Exhibition Centre helipad in Cambodia, performs approximately 80 very established tourism flight operator, Wan Chai on the edge of Victoria Harbour, scenic flights per year. In the past, about although its helicopters will from time to time sharing the facility with the Hong Kong 30% of its activity comprised tourism- be reconfigured for other work such as cargo Government Flying Service. related flights but that percentage has lifting and construction. The company has ‘Also, in regards to routine and special recently dropped. three MD 902 Explorer light twin platforms permits for filming and survey inspection Shephard spoke to Thierry Tea, the founder for scenic flights and was Hong Kong’s first and other related business matters, and MD of the company, who revealed: ‘We operator of this tail-rotorless aircraft. Heliservices can easily apply for the permits entered the tourism market in 2013. We The Heliservices spokesperson according to the timeline set by the have encountered a slight drop in tourism commented: ‘We have been in the tourist government,’ the spokesperson added. flights as we grew our business flights. market for more than 20 years. The market Regarding the future of the scenic However, tourism has increased in the has been growing steadily as more and flight market in Hong Kong, Heliservices Philippines so there are more opportunities.’ more tourists would like to try something is ‘positive’. The company believes PhilJets is the largest operator of different than the traditional activities in such helicopter experiences will be an Airbus platforms in the country, with ten Hong Kong.’ unquestioned method for tourists to in total, including the H125 and H130. The company believes such flights offer quickly and easily explore the area, Three of these are used for tourism flights, an ‘unforgettable experience’. It warned especially as the government aims to according to Tea.

TrakkaCam® TC-300 High performance cost-effective surveillance system, 4-axis gyrostabilised (6-axis passive stabilisation), 6-sensor channel payload, Lightweight/compact single LRU design, ITAR-free

COMPLETE SOLUTIONS, TrakkaMaps® TM-100 Mapping & Recording Video Management SEAMLESS INTEGRATION System, Multi map views with augmented reality, Integration with open and proprietary user databases, Intuitive control and innovative post-processing

TrakkaBeam® TLX High performance searchlight with superior beam quality, Lower power draw, Internal multispectral filters, optional new dual EO/IR sensors for full situational awareness

WWW.ROTORHUB.COM VOLUME 12 NUMBER 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 ROTORHUB 9 AERIAL TOURISM

The H130 accommodates up to Table 1: Number of aerial tour helicopters by country in the Asia-Pacific region. six passengers, offering them Bose (Source: Asian Sky Group) noise cancellation headsets, Bluetooth Percentage of smartphone connectivity for onboard phone Total fleet Aerial tours fleet calls, MP3 audio plug-ins and the ability to total connect iPads with outdoor GoPro cameras New Zealand 769 157 20% for maximum customer enjoyment. This technology allows passengers to take China 952 108 11% photos of the scenery at any time whilst Australia 1,907 104 5% listening to music. Popular tourist destinations for PhilJets Japan 788 14 2% flights are Taal Lake, the volcano Mount Pinatubo, the Banaue rice terraces, the Nepal 30 10 33% white beaches of Puerto Galero, the resort India 309 9 3% island of Boracay and the Chocolate Hills. Catering to tourists is not always Malaysia 163 8 5% straightforward, however, according to Tea: Indonesia 216 7 3% ‘Tourism flights are challenging as they are one-time clients and more demanding than Philippines 206 7 3% local clients. However, it is interesting as it Fiji 12 4 33% pushes us to improve our services and customer satisfaction orientation. Our team Papua New Guinea 104 4 4% feels very proud to show foreign tourists the beauty of the Philippines, its pristine waters Cambodia 9 3 33% and wonderful islands.’ Vanuatu 58 3 5% PhilJets spoke positively of the national aviation authorities: ‘We are very Guam 16 2 13% appreciative of the initiatives and efforts 116 1 2% made by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in recent years. There are still New Caledonia 22 1 9% some improvements required, but the will to uplift the standard is felt and PhilJets Bangladesh 19 1 5% is glad to support the regulators and to Hong Kong 23 1 4% contribute,’ said Tea. One might expect that Thailand, which Laos 10 1 10% has a huge tourism industry like the Myanmar 17 1 6% Philippines, would be a good breeding ground for scenic flights too. Surprisingly, Palau 1 1 100% however, only one or two companies offer 9 1 11% such experiences, since the country has few multi-mission helicopter operators. Sri Lanka 15 1 7%

Vietnam 34 1 3%

What looks to be Thailand’s rotary-wing fleet is dominated by and these are often in remote areas and a staple part of the government and oil and gas sector. over inhospitable terrain. For example, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi the helicopter industry Shuttle to the shrine Shrine is the second-most visited in India, in Australasia is likely The Asian Sky Group records nine attracting more than 10 million pilgrims helicopters used for tourism applications annually. Travelling from the town of Katra to be replicated in the out of India’s total fleet of 309. Actually, to Sanjichhat near the shrine takes 5-6h emerging aerial tourism India offers an interesting case study, since on foot or 4-5h by pony. However, by one of the most popular forms of private helicopter, the journey is reduced to just markets in Asia. flight is what could be termed ‘religious four minutes. The Katra helipad is situated tourism’. Many Hindus in the region at an altitude of 2,800ft, while that at undertake pilgrimages to sacred sites, Sanjichhat sits at 6,200ft.

10 ROTORHUB AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 VOLUME 12 NUMBER 4 WWW.ROTORHUB.COM AERIAL TOURISM

One company offering flights to Sanjichhat is Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd (GVHL), which also happens to be India’s largest private helicopter company. Established in 1998 and publicly listed from 2006, it averages 25,000 flight hours annually. AJ Baker, CEO of GVHL, explained: ‘We provide dedicated, year-round pilgrim shuttle services at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine… This service sees two H130 helicopters operating, on average, eight hours of flying every day. ‘GVHL also provide dedicated, seasonal services at a number of other important religious tourism sites across northern PhilJets is the largest operator of Airbus platforms in the country, with ten in total including the India, with an additional four H125 H125 and H130, shown above. (Photo: PhilJets) helicopters conducting operations at these higher-altitude venues between May and very remote locations, ‘so simple logistics exclusive or remote Japanese territories.’ October each year.’ Baker said that tourism such as maintaining fuel supplies and However, charters for simple point-to-point flights are a ‘very significant element of our obtaining suitable accommodation for transport or emergency meetings comprise business, accounting for over 4,000h of staff at the seasonal sites always requires more than 50-60% of JFA’s day-to-day flying each year’. special attention’. service scope. GVHL also supports the oil and gas Secondly, the helicopters are generally The JFA fleet relies on the Bell 206 and industry and runs a range of VIP, corporate flying at higher altitudes, ‘so constant R44, with other models subcontracted where and utility operations. ‘In India, the religious weather changes are a daily factor, and demand warrants. ‘Currently, we use and tourism sector is incredibly important and, coordinating hundreds of passengers despatch about 12-20 aircraft throughout as such, support to helicopter services is around changing schedules requires a lot Japan on a regular basis and more on a rare given due priority from the aviation of work from our ground staff’. Weather basis,’ the spokesperson noted. regulator,’ Baker added. conditions can change swiftly, and fog, rain ‘Tourism has seen an exponential rise in The company currently has a fleet of and monsoons affect flights. a major way from about four years ago and, 29 helicopters, comprising the Bell 412EP Looking to the future, Baker said: ‘The with the easing of visas and the upcoming and AW139 for oil and gas services; the religious tourism sector is quite mature [summer] Olympics [in Tokyo in 2020], it is AW169, H135 and a 412EP for VIP and and relatively stable but, even so, there looking to “super-boom”… There is a great corporate work; the H125 for both tourism will likely still be modest increases to big luxury market for Chinese travellers who and utility work (for example, surveys and helicopter services in the years ahead can more easily get visas and that is on power line inspections); and the H130 for as the improving Indian economy allows everybody’s minds, but everybody from dedicated tourism services. The latter is more and more people who visit the everywhere seems to want to visit Japan heavily used for religious tourism, able to various sites to take advantage of the now,’ they continued. carry seven passengers at a time in time-saving benefits that the helicopter The greatest challenges to flight forward-facing seats. services provide.’ operations in the country are primarily Baker noted that GVHL has been involved cost and competing with excellent ground in shrine flights for almost ten years. Such Adventure super-boom transport options, as well as ATC restrictions is its popularity that it evolved over the past Tourism helicopters make up just 2% of and government regulations. Referring to five to six years to become a focal element Japan’s 788-strong rotary-wing fleet. One the authorities, the spokesperson added: of the business. ‘We see the sector as operator is Japan Flight Adventures (JFA), ‘They are very strict and getting stricter up being relatively stable, with incremental which offers what it describes as ‘rotary to the Olympics, and so they generally year-on-year growth, and this trend is rambles into every prefecture and pristine hamper more than help currently.’ expected to continue,’ he said. patch of scenery or soaring skyline in Japan’. As for the future of helicopter tourism in Baker went into more detail regarding JFA operates from Okinawa in the south Japan? ‘It will soar higher and higher for the operational difficulties. ‘Our tourism to the tip of Hokkaido in the north, offering sure, and we’ll have many more passengers operations are a significant sector of our custom charters, aerial filming, theme in the upcoming two to three years – and business and provide our company with a flights for families and corporations and more competition.’ positive and reliable revenue stream, but, even marriage proposals or movies. What looks to be a staple part of the indeed, these services have their share of A JFA spokesperson told Shephard: ‘We helicopter industry in Australasia is likely to challenges,’ he told Shephard. The first plan to add more products, creative route be replicated in the emerging aerial tourism challenge Baker mentioned is operating in offers and combo land and air packages to markets in Asia. ■

WWW.ROTORHUB.COM VOLUME 12 NUMBER 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 ROTORHUB 11