Jakartans will soon have the option to soar above the city’s notorious traffic jams in order to get to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
PT Whitesky Aviation, which has been running the Helicity “air taxi” service flying passengers around Jakarta and Bandung on helicopters since 2016, will soon run a city-to-airport service as well following the completion of a large heliport just southwest of Soekarno-Hatta.
The construction of the heliport, which is located on the Neglasari sub-district of Tangerang and measures 2.8 hectares in size, began yesterday with a groundbreaking ceremony and is expected to be complete in 2018. The project is a collaboration between Whitesky and state-owned airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura II.
“This heliport will be able to house 20 helicopters, complete with a terminal, executive lounge and transportation to and from the [Soekarno-Hatta] airport,” said Whitesky first director Denon Prawiraatmadja, as quoted by Liputan 6.
Denon estimates that the fare for one person to get from anywhere in Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta Area) to Soekarno-Hatta and vice versa on a regular chopper (able to carry 4 passengers) is around Rp 2 million. The ride would take around 10-20 minutes.
Depending on how much money one has to burn, it could be considered worthwhile, considering a taxi ride to the airport from the farther reaches of the megapolis may cost several hundred thousand rupiahs.
It’s probably even more worthwhile to take a chopper to Soekarno-Hatta from the neighboring city of Bandung, which Denon said would cost around Rp 4 million per person.
For the more frugal among us, we can at least look forward to the much more affordable city-airport train service, launching in July.
