Indonesia’s Whitesky Aviation is expecting to complete the construction of the new Cengkareng Heliport, near Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport, by year-end and is hoping the $5 million investment will drive the growth of urban air taxis in the country. The facility, built in partnership with airport management company Angkasa Pura, will be able to park around 40 Bell 505 Jetranger Xs or 20 Bell 429s.
Whitesky Aviation CEO and founder Denon Prawiraatmadja said its HeliCity air taxi product has recently seen about 20 to 30 flights monthly, compared to virtually none three years ago. He said the company is using the coming four years to gather market information and is expecting 10 percent revenue growth annually from the B2C business. HeliCity currently provides helicopter service between Soekarno Hatta International Airport to downtown Jakarta and Bandung.
“The current administration is very open to new transport solutions to support all industry and economic sectors,” he said. “Some challenges are the lack of lighting equipment for us to operate visually at, and we are in talks with the authorities to improve that. We also hope to operate night flights direct from Cengkareng to Bandung in three years.”
While the company currently operates mainly in the Java Island, Prawiraatmadja said it has partnerships in Bintan Island and will soon announce a new venture in Bali.