Exploring the Horizon of Helicopter Tourism and Taxi Services in Dubai

Falcon Aviation Services operates sightseeing helicopter tours from its certified helipad in Dubai, offering a unique experience for tourists and locals alike. The service has seen a 20% increase in bookings since last year, with plans to expand the services to other cities in the region. Additionally, the development of helicopter taxi services is gaining momentum in the UAE, with ride-sharing apps like UberChopper offering temporary services. The country is also considering introducing permanent helipads and UberJet-like services for private jet travel. Overall, the aviation industry in the UAE is expected to continue growing, driven by a rise in tourist numbers and demand for convenient transportation solutions.

UAE AVIATION INDUSTRY
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
The development of Airports.......................................................................................................3
Connectivity between Abu Dhabi and Dubai..............................................................................5
Helicopter Sightseeing.................................................................................................................7
Evolution of Helicopter Taxi.......................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
The emblem of the United Arab Emirates features the Hawk of Quraish, a very sleek golden
flacon which can used to represent the current position of the global aviation level of UAE in the
market. The country is a federation of seven nations or emirates which was established in 1971.
It has constituent emirates namely the Ajman, Abu Dhabi (the capital), Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah,
Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah and Sharjah. Every single emirate has been governed by their absolute
monarchy who have formed their Federal Supreme Council. The economy of the UAE has been
considered to be one of the most diversified in the whole Gulf Cooperation Council and Dubai
city has been emerged as an international aviation hub and a global city. The government of
UAE spends heavily on development of aerospace and aviation sector for diversifying the
economy apart from depending on gas and oil. Over USD 136 billion will be spent by UAE state
agencies and companies until 2020 for making it a global transport hub in order to become the
world’s largest airline industries
The UAE has been spending a lot on its aviation sector and taking key early steps in the
advancement of the foothold of the country in the aviation industry. The country’s ability for
diversifying the economy far away from the hydrocarbon sales can prove out to be the testament
towards growth in the aviation sector. On the basis of 2013 figures, it can be seen that the Asia
Pacific region is has the largest air transport market in the world accounting for 31% share of the
total traffic whereas the UAE is considered to be the world’s fastest growing air transport market
with a rate of 11.2%. It has been encountered that the international traffic has grown by 10.9% in
the Middle East.

Discussion
The development of Airports
Over 94 destinations are being served in 56 countries by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and
Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). This airport has won multiple number of awards and
has been regarded as the home to the Etihad Airways having ambitious expansion projects. It has
been anticipated that over twenty million passengers will use this airport as their origin, transit,
destination point for domestic as well as international flight in the next five years. Therefore, the
emirates of Dubai have been planning on to cater for the increasing and growing air traffic by
expanding its second airport called the Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central for
handling around 120 million passengers in the next coming years. The future hub of Emirates
have a reworked design which will enable the DAC or the Dubai Airports Company for handling
over 240 million annual travelers annually. Once completed it will have the capacity of handling
200 million passengers along with 16 million ton of cargo in a year. Furthermore, the airport hub
will also become the nerve center of around 140-square-kilometre multiphase development of six
clustered zones including the Commercial City, Dubai Logistics City (DLC), Residential City,

the Golf City and the Aviation City. (Dubai's strategy - to become the world's aviation hub |
Airport Business, 2007).
Furthermore, the aviation sector of emirates has recently been eclipsing Hong Kong, London and
related global hubs and has been successful in emerging as the key infrastructure strength which
will set UAE apart from the global and the regional peers in the near future. On the basis of
World Economic Forum on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, UAE has been
placed on the third position for its air transport infrastructure thereby reflecting a bright future.
The change in infrastructure has been able to provide credential to the notion of Dubai “if you
build it, they will come.”
With so much development, the country is unlikely to stop spending on the aviation
infrastructure of the emirates. All the contractors, designs and engineers are putting their best
foot forward for expanding the Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC)
project.
Additionally the aviation and the infrastructure development sector will be benefitted by the
winning of the bid host in 2020 World Expo where the visitation numbers are likely to surpass
25 million people. The Dubai Airport has also outlines a plan stating that the construction has
been done to deliver the aviation infrastructure supporting the impressive growth of this sector
and will further facilitate the economic expansion of Dubai by generating 32% of the GDP of the
emirates along with 22% of the total employment. In order to increase the airspace capacity and
harness the capabilities of the modern fleets, the airport will also have next-generation
technology like dynamic airspace and navigation. The Dubai Expo- 2020 will help in enhancing
the tourism figures of Dubai from 14.26 million to around 25 million and the emirates will be

able to pour funds into the aviation sector regardless of the retrenchment in other sectors of the
economy because of their protracted downturn in the oil sector.(Arif, M., Gupta, A., & Williams,
A., 2013).
Therefore, with enhanced infrastructure and large space the airports will be able to increase the
connectivity among the various cities in the regional and global world. Therefore, when the
development of Al Maktoum International, Abu Dhabi and Dubai Airport is meshed with Dubai
Expo, once can easily envision the future of aviation sector in UAE. Further the Dubai-Abu
Dhabi fulcrum can be considered as the focal point of the tourism, global trade and transport
(Aviation Investment Summit, 2016).
Connectivity between Abu Dhabi and Dubai
It is a well-known fact that the airports are expensive and require high amount of space for the
terminals, luggage, runway, parking and other services for the customers. Additionally, these
cannot be built everywhere owing to the space and noise and for smaller distances. It has been
seen that the commuters travelling between Abu Dhabi and Dubai were facing problem with the
mode of transportation. Although there are several possibilities for the travelers to choose
ranging from bus, train, taxi etc. These are affordable but highly time consuming. Therefore the

aviation industry of the UAE has come up with innovative idea of helicopter taxi. Uber has
introduced Uber CHOPPER helping the commuters to skip the traffic between Abu Dhabi and
Dubai. This app-based taxi has been partly-owned by Qatar and by associating with Alpha Tours
this door-to-door services has been started. The services have just started and is expected to
bloom in the near future. The Uber Chopper has to be requested upon which a private driver will
pick up the users from their mentioned place and a drive to the helipad at Atlantis will be
provided till The Palm hotel. From then, they are flown directly to Yas Island. The distance
between both the cities is covered in just 30 minutes, therefore providing a new dimension to the
aviation sector. The key advantage of these services is avoiding the stress of the high-speed lane
weaving. These chopper charters are seen to soar high above most of the other travelling
commodity in the UAE. The independent operators have been coordinated by the Uber Chopper
providing a smooth scheduling along with billing and also provide car services, all this has been
able to provide a convenient and hassle-free ride in both the cities.
According to the Uber Executive the region of Abu Dhabi and Dubai are really strategically
important market and have shown tremendous growth for the business. This mode of
transportation developed during the F1 series in Dubai with tourist market kept in mind but it
eventually helped in developing the commuting as well as business traffic. The three hours
journey between the cities can be covered in just 35-45 minutes providing relief to the daily
commuters. Therefore it can be said that enhanced connectivity between the two global cities has
provided a new dimension to the aviation sector.
The Etihad Airways is also proposing to subcontract various companies for operating aircrafts to
take over the transport services between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. These aircraft will aim towards
reducing the time travel and will also provide a more comfortable transport system along with

ensuring loyalty of their customers. These services between the two cities will be offered using
two Airbus H155 helicopters 14 passengers and two Embraer ERJ 135 series with 37 seats.
These aircrafts will have internet connectivity and Etihad E-box for communicating with family
and friends along with in-seat phones and SMS. These services will be offered by Etihad airline
for the passengers willing to travel to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi and will be a short 25-30
minutes ride (Alrubaysh, A., 2015).
Helicopter Sightseeing
The city is beyond its time by introducing the helicopter tour and making it a privilege for
everyone is yet another landmark achieved by the aviation sector. The sector has designed aerial
tours in Dubai and other sectors for ensuring unforgettable experience for the common people
along with the tourists. These aerial tours ensure a unique and unobstructed view of the city
ranging from the spectacular Burj Khalifa, The Palm Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab to the spectacular
The World in their appointed helicopters. The tour range from a 12- minute or the 22- minute
tour and have been used as excellent gift for anniversaries, birthday etc. by the common people
whereas used as an essential of sightseeing by the tourists. Falcon Aviation Services is
responsible for operating sightseeing helicopter tours and the services are operated from their
certified helipad at the flagship of Dubai near Atlantis the Palm resort. These services have seen
a clear rise of around 20% from the last year depicting a positive growth in the near future. The
organization with its partnership with Alpha Tours is planning to aim towards providing 20
percent rise in their booking.
With high success rate, the Dubai is targeting towards increasing its tourist intake of 20 million
along with aiming towards having conservative goals in 2030 plan of around 7.3 million visitors.
The prime advantage of this facility is the stress-free and hassle-free ride without any traffic jam

and at the same time it suits the needs of time-constraint tourists. Furthermore the low flying
altitude of hovering capability of helicopter makes it an impeccable mode for airborne
sightseeing flight along with providing leisure to the clients and tourists. This facility is currently
available in the city of Dubai only where the visitors can enjoy the thrill of helicopter sightseeing
and see the city from the eye view of a bird by registering all the iconic landmarks of the city.
With the huge success rate, it would be possible to extend the services to the cities of Abu Dhabi
etc. and help the tourists to visit the city for the same experience.
Evolution of Helicopter Taxi
The UAE market has a potential of becoming a huge market for their ride-sharing apps which are
aimed at the private jets and helicopters. However there is a need for developing various
necessary logistics for supporting the market as per the chairman of the Middle East and North
Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA).
The helicopter taxi services started in 2015 and were named as UberChopper in the UAE
offering temporary services to those flying from Dubai to Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 fans
witnessing the Grand Prix race. The app was seen to be highly popular among the common
people and the visitors therefore making the services go permanent. The founding chairman of
MEBAA, Ali Ahmed Alnaqbi witnessed a great appetite for these ride-sharing apps among
people who were willing to pay extra amount in order to avoid the traffic and long commuting
distance on the roads (Uber extends helicopter service in UAE after F1 success, 2016). He
further added that with the cities becoming congested these services have a high potential. The
organizations and associations were planning of launching the helicopter taxi service in 2007 but
failed due to the financial downturns in the country. The prime obstacles according to the Dubai-
based newspaper The Khaleej Times in June 2008 was the lack of authorized landing spaces. As

per the report, over thousand sites are present in UAE but do not have an approval under the
international standards.
This service is directly associated with the infrastructure which is currently underdeveloped. Due
to the premature market in this sector, the high rise buildings are being used as the helipads for
the services. In the near future, there has to be an increase in the authorized landing space in
order to make these services permanent. With high demand among the clients and customers,
organization has been considering on fulfilling this consideration.
Although the similar services have been introduced in the France and Brazil by the
UberChopper, but according to the organization in the UAE, the country has to take its own
initiative for leading its way out for development of permanent services. The association is
thinking of having helipads in the significant high rise building. The MEBAA along with GCAA
(Gulf Civil Aviation Authority) are planning of helipad authorization and to make the services
permanent in prominent markets (UAE could be, 2016).
Another potential market for helicopter taxis and ride-sharing apps is the same services beyond
this area. The country is planning on introducing UberJet similar to the one present in California
providing services to the wealthy fans to travel to the Cannes festival to book their own private
jet trip using the Uber app along with various permanent services. The MEBAA members are
thinking of implementing a system which will have some utilization of the empty leg. The empty
leg refers to the situation when a one-way ride is booked and the jet has to arrive empty on its
way to return back. A 10 percent rise has been seen in the services this year and is expected to
rise in the near future. Therefore, the association will is trying to implement the mentioned
changes in order to make these services permanent.

References
Dubai's strategy - to become the world's aviation hub | Airport Business. (2007). Airport
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strategy-to-become-the-worlds-aviation-hub/
Aviation Investment Summit. (2016). Eiseverywhere.com. Retrieved 1 November 2016, from
https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/aviationsummit15/uae-aviation-sector/
Uber extends helicopter service in UAE after F1 success. (2016). 7DAYS UAE. Retrieved 1
November 2016, from http://7days.ae/uber-extends-helicopter-service-uae-f1-success
UAE could be. (2016). Zawya.com. Retrieved 1 November 2016, from
http://www.zawya.com/uae/en/story/INTERVIEW_UAE_needs_more_helipads_to_cater_to_Ub
erstyle_aviation_demand-ZAWYA20161031025732/
Alrubaysh, A. (2015). Overall Condition of the United Arab Emirates. International Journal Of
Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 6(Issue 11), 809. Retrieved from
http://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Overall-Condition-of-the-United-Arab-Emirates.pdf
Arif, M., Gupta, A., & Williams, A. (2013). Customer service in the aviation industry – An
exploratory analysis of UAE airports. Journal Of Air Transport Management, 32, 1-7.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2013.05.001