Beijing inaugurates the dial-a-copter scheme

Beijing has inaugurated its dial-a-copter scheme. It is a trial helicopter hailing service and has been jointly launched by a Chinese general aviation operator and China`s biggest taxi hailing platform. It has reportedly proved to be a great hit over the weekend.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 18 May 2015.

It seems over 10,000 applicants had signed-up for the helicopter service using Didi Kuaidi`s platform, but only 100 managed to hail a ride. It was a three-day trial run from May 15 and, while many did sign up, it was not possible to accommodate all of them.
The itinerary of the trip was a 230-Km Beijing-Tianjin round trip in a Bell-429 helicopter. The fare was 3,500 yuan ($560) per person, and the round trip to suburban Yanxi Lake was billed at 1,999 yuan ($321).
Incidentally, such a helicopter leisure flight is a new concept in China because, here, the military controls most of the airspace and the operators would have to apply for regulatory approval for tours one day in advance.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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