Helicopter travel takes off in China during Spring Festival rush
Helicopter services boomed during the Chinese New Year, offering fast travel and new routes across different cities
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.