Air commute just the ticket for Alpha

zoom

Luxury helicopter services is an untapped market in the Middle East says FAS’ Markham.

A new luxury helicopter service for the tourism and corporate markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi has been launched following the announcement of a strategic partnership between Alpha Tours and Falcon Aviation Services (FAS) last month.

The fleet will comprise four co-branded luxury helicopters, with flights departing from helipads at Union Square in Dubai and ADNEC in Abu Dhabi. FAS general manager Philip Markham said luxury helicopter services in the region was a virgin market.

"While the rest of Dubai and Abu Dhabi is booming, the helicopter side of things is a bit sleepy, as is the corporate jets side," he said.

"We believe there is a big void in the market - there are a couple of other [operators] in this market but they are doing it with 20-year-old helicopters - [but] we went out and bought new helicopters."

Markham said that FAS would also offer a similar service for private charter flights when the company received the first of 17 new private business jets currently on order.

Alpha Tours chief executive Ghassan Aridi said the boom in tourism and other business sectors in the UAE had created a niche market for these private luxury services.

"The service will add value to the existing product in Dubai - everybody does the desert tours and belly dancer - by introducing this we are adding a new activity and better value for the existing tourism product," he said.

Half hour tours of Dubai or Abu Dhabi will cost AED 3999 (US $1088), and shuttles between Abu Dhabi and Dubai lead in from AED 9995 ($2721).

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.