China-Singapore Jingwei, October 1 (Zheng Yijia) At the beginning of September, a hotel in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province ushered in a "big guy" - a Bell helicopter. But the helicopter was used neither for emergency transport nor for sightseeing, but for weddings.
Helicopter weddings: niche but "eye-catching"
According to the staff of the hotel, the helicopter wedding is a new feature project, and there are currently two main ways to hold it, one is to park the helicopter at the venue for 2 hours as a set for group photos; The second is that the newlyweds take a helicopter to fly around Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou for 1 hour, and then stop at the venue to provide a group photo for 2 hours. The former costs 8,000 yuan/game, and the latter is 38,000 yuan/game.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
However, since the project has only just been launched, no newcomers have tried it recently. The hotel staff also said frankly: "Helicopter weddings are still relatively niche, there are not many people who consult, and the main concerns of guests are mainly focused on the form and cost of the event." ”
Sino-Singapore Jingwei has learned that the general aviation company that currently cooperates with the hotel for the helicopter wedding is Shanghai Xinkong Helicopter Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Xinkong Helicopter). According to Ding Wei, the person in charge of Xinkong Helicopter Hangzhou, the reason why this Hangzhou hotel was chosen for cooperation is that in addition to the close distance between the apmac and the hotel, another important reason is that Hangzhou Xiaoshan attaches more importance to weddings.
Ding Wei said, "Helicopter weddings are still a very niche project at the moment. For the general aviation company, the most important role is to enrich the company's business format and improve the utilization rate of helicopters and crews in leisure time. It is reported that on October 6, Xinkong Helicopter will also cooperate with a wedding company to send helicopters to participate in the filming event.
Even overseas, where helicopter weddings developed earlier, it is difficult to say that this type of wedding is currently popular. In August this year, Ms. Feng held a certificate collection ceremony in Vancouver, Canada, and the venue was selected at the top of the snow-capped mountain, and she could only take a helicopter back and forth. Since a helicopter can only carry five passengers, and each additional aircraft will require an additional cost of 20,000 yuan, so Ms. Feng did not invite guests.
According to Ms. Feng, there are a number of local helicopter companies, some of which will provide all-inclusive services and provide high, medium and low three-level solutions according to the customer's budget, which can be customized by the customer. For example, the helicopter destination, whether you need a photo service, etc. In the end, Ms. Feng chose the all-inclusive package at a price of 12,000 Canadian dollars (about 62,600 yuan).
"Helicopter weddings in China may still be mainly held in cities, but overseas can cover some places that cannot be reached without helicopters, such as snow-capped mountains." Ms. Feng said.
Although offline is still a niche project, the popularity of helicopter weddings is rising on Internet platforms. On the Douyin platform, the topic "helicopter wedding" has been viewed more than 68 million times, and the most popular video has more than 900,000 likes.
According to the information provided by Aircraft Home, helicopter weddings have appeared in China since 2012, and the main charging method is calculated by the hour, and the hourly flight price of different aircraft types is also different. General aviation companies usually provide three flight programs, one for the helicopter to greet relatives, the second for the "flying" to provide helicopter proposals, viewing and other services, and the third for helicopter charter, that is, the lessee enjoys the right to use the helicopter within the time limit signed by both parties, including greeting, wedding short-distance sightseeing, etc., sufficient time, you can also invite relatives and friends to board together. Every helicopter flight, including weddings, needs to be approved by the local authorities.
However, not all general aviation companies are currently able to offer air tours at weddings. Ding Wei said: "This is subject to civil aviation regulations. For example, there is an air tour point in Hangzhou Xianghu Lake, so tourists can take a helicopter for air tour. But if you fly a wedding charter flight, it is a short-distance transportation, and many general aviation companies do not have this qualification, so they can only provide helicopters to pose for photos on the spot. ”
In addition, according to Guo Zhaorong, general manager of the aircraft home, the air tour route is first planned by the crew pilots of the general aviation company, and then declared, and then reported to the local civil aviation department and relevant regulatory departments for approval after the approval is completed, and can only fly after a series of inspections.
Summer is full of tourists, flying 8 hours a day
Behind the attention of helicopter weddings is the rapid development of the low-altitude economy. In August this year, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of Service Consumption", proposing to encourage the development of new business formats such as low-altitude flights in the field of tourism consumption.
In March this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the Innovative Application of General Aviation Equipment (2024-2030)", proposing to encourage qualified areas to develop diversified low-altitude tourism products and promote the application demonstration of "general aviation + tourism". Support the development of consumer flight activities such as flight experience and aviation skydiving.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
The interviewed practitioners all mentioned to China-Singapore Jingwei that air tourism has long been developed in China, but this year it is obvious that the popularity has increased. "We've been in general aviation for 16 years, and we've been doing air tours since July 2023, which is just in time for this boom." Guo Zhaorong said.
According to Guo Zhaorong, as a chain enterprise that does air tours, Aircraft Home has a total of 17 directly-operated stores, covering Zhangjiakou in Hebei, Guilin in Guangxi, Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, etc., and the partners are all 5A-level scenic spots. The helicopters are all owned and put in various scenic spots. Currently, there are three helicopter models in the Aircraft House, with a total of 10 aircraft. In addition to serving scenic spots in the peak season, aircraft can also be deployed to carry out aerial surveys, aerial photography, agricultural and forestry spraying, and emergency rescue tasks in the off-season.
"This summer, each of our bases is basically full. Taking the Zhangjiakou base in Hebei Province as an example, it can fly for about 8 hours a day during the peak season, and sometimes tourists need to queue for 1-2 hours to experience the helicopter. Guo Zhaorong said, "There are also many scenic spots that want to cooperate with us, including those who want to buy aircraft, lease aircraft, and individuals who buy and then put them into various scenic spots." ”
Xinkong Helicopter is also cooperating with theme parks such as Ningbo Fangte, and has launched an aerial tour route adjacent to Shanghai Disneyland. "In the future, we will have a lot of projects across the country, including islands, Huangpu River, etc." Ding Wei said. Currently, Xinkong Helicopters has a total of 6 helicopters.
According to Ding Wei, the most representative cities in China are Sanya, Hainan and Dunhuang, Gansu. Among them, the data disclosed by the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports in December 2023 shows that according to incomplete statistics, the 12 companies included in the statistics of low-altitude tourism-related projects of the Hainan Provincial Aviation Sports Association are expected to receive about 28,000 tourists in 2023, with an annual total output value of about 90 million yuan, and low-altitude tourism projects such as helicopter sightseeing, hot air ballooning, paragliding, and parachuting are popular.
However, the price of a helicopter is often millions or tens of millions, and Guo Zhaorong also said frankly about the cost of expansion: "The cost composition first comes from the aircraft, because it needs to be purchased and launched; The second is operations, including site expenses and personnel costs. There will be some pressure to expand, but pressure is also the driving force. ”
Ding Wei said that the company will start to really launch the air tour business in 2023, and it was previously mainly engaged in transportation. "Air tours can bring stable flow to the company, and there are profit points."
(For more reporting clues, please contact the author of this article, Zheng Yijia: [email protected]) (Sino-Singapore Jingwei APP)
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