Helicopter tours take off in Guizhou

Guizhou province has opened its first air route for helicopter tours as it looks to meet the diversifying needs of visitors, Guizhou City News reported on Wednesday.

The maiden flight left the eastern city of Kaili at 10:35 am on Tuesday and landed briefly in Xiasi, an ancient town known as Little Shanghai. It returned to Kaili at 11:33 am.

The flight was in an Airbus H125, which can carry up to four passengers and has been used to fly over Qomolangma, the world’s tallest mountain, known in the West as Mount Everest.

Selected groups will be invited to experience the tour at the cost of only 1 yuan (15 US cents) around the National Day holiday in October when a new helipad is finished, said Jiang Hongyan, who works in marketing for the tour operator, Beijing Capital Helicopter.

The company, a subsidiary of HNA Group, plans to open more air routes to tourist attractions, according to the report.

Guizhou authorities aims to build a general aviation network in 10 to 15 years, with almost every county reachable by helicopter.

Wang Keju contributed to this story.