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Asia's hot new taxi: Jet setters are banking on helicopters to beat traffic snarls

Forget ride-hailing. Jet-setters in Asia are banking on on-demand helicopters to beat traffic snarls

Left: Beating a traffic jam in Jakarta high above in a Helicity helicopter. Above: Arriving in style on the rooftop helipad at Shangri-La hotel. Below: Whitesky Aviation launched helicopter-taxi service Helicity which allows customers to book rides f
Bell 505 Jet Ranger helicopter flying over Jakarta. PHOTOS: WHITESKY AVIATION
Left: Beating a traffic jam in Jakarta high above in a Helicity helicopter. Above: Arriving in style on the rooftop helipad at Shangri-La hotel. Below: Whitesky Aviation launched helicopter-taxi service Helicity which allows customers to book rides f
Just tap and fly: Whitesky Aviation launched helicopter-taxi service Helicity which allows customers to book rides from an app. It serves people in the greater Jakarta region and Bandung.
ST PHOTOS: ARLINA ARSHAD, AZIM AZMAN
Left: Beating a traffic jam in Jakarta high above in a Helicity helicopter. Above: Arriving in style on the rooftop helipad at Shangri-La hotel. Below: Whitesky Aviation launched helicopter-taxi service Helicity which allows customers to book rides f
The Straits Times goes on a Helicity ride.
 ST PHOTOS: ARLINA ARSHAD, AZIM AZMAN
Left: Beating a traffic jam in Jakarta high above in a Helicity helicopter. Above: Arriving in style on the rooftop helipad at Shangri-La hotel. Below: Whitesky Aviation launched helicopter-taxi service Helicity which allows customers to book rides f
Arriving in style on the rooftop helipad at Shangri-La hotel. ST PHOTOS: ARLINA ARSHAD, AZIM AZMAN
Left: Beating a traffic jam in Jakarta high above in a Helicity helicopter. Above: Arriving in style on the rooftop helipad at Shangri-La hotel. Below: Whitesky Aviation launched helicopter-taxi service Helicity which allows customers to book rides f
Beating a traffic jam in Jakarta high above in a Helicity helicopter. ST PHOTOS: ARLINA ARSHAD, AZIM AZMAN
Above: A Bell 505 Jet Ranger helicopter flying over Jakarta. Left: Whitesky Aviation CEO Denon Prawiraatmadja on the helipad of Shangri-La hotel in Jakarta, currently one of the locations where customers can board or be dropped off.
Whitesky Aviation CEO Denon Prawiraatmadja on the helipad of Shangri-La hotel in Jakarta, currently one of the locations where customers can board or be dropped off. PHOTOS: WHITESKY AVIATION
Arlina Arshad Regional Correspondent In Jakarta and Raul Dancel  Philippines Correspondent In Manila
Updated
Oct 25, 2018, 04:14 PM
Published
Apr 03, 2018, 05:00 AM
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It is not just cars or motorcycles. Now, a quick tap on the phone will hail you a helicopter to escape Jakarta's notorious traffic jams.

Soaring across the skies since last December, Helicity is an "on-demand" helicopter-taxi service offering individuals fast commutes around the Indonesian capital and to nearby cities in West Java, such as Bandung and Bogor.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 03, 2018, with the headline Asia's hot new taxi: Jet setters are banking on helicopters to beat traffic snarls. Subscribe

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