Flying toward a spectacular future

Last year, the State Council released the Suggestions to Promote Tourism Industry Reform and Development report, and emphasized aerial tours in low-altitude airspace.

The National Tourism Administration even approved Reignwood Group China's plan to run helicopter trips in Beijing.

"The company's subsidiary Reignwood Star General Aviation Co Ltd uses two of its 10 helicopters for aerial tours and the market could be huge here," Liu Huan, a manager for the company's tour division, said, adding that the rest of the fleet is used for corporate customers.

Naturally, most of the company's tour clients are businesspeople.

Peak periods are at the weekends and during the summer months, with sight-seeing tours taking in the Beijing National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, and the Great Wall.

Trips of 20 minutes cost 2,680 yuan per person.

"We are slightly different from startup companies in that most of our customers tend to be corporate clients," Liu said. "They will come on the tours after completing their business here."

But it is not all blue skies for the country's helicopter operators, and the industry will still have to navigate through spells of financial turbulence.

A lack of qualified staff, including pilots, is one problem, while the high cost of fuel, which is 17,000 yuan per ton for a light helicopter, is another. The high tax rate is also a concern.

Yang, of Zhanzhuo General Aviation, said his company has to pay about 20 percent business tax, including 2 percent import tariff and 17 percent value-added tax, when it buys a new helicopter from foreign manufacturers.

"Most machines are made overseas, so it's a burden for the operators, especially those that are just starting out like us," he added.

A lack of infrastructure is another headache, which is holding the industry back.

There were only about 500 commercial airports and heliports in the country by the end of 2013.

But that will eventually change. China plans to increase the number of airports during the 13th Five-Year Plan from 2016 to 2020, Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said.

Taking to the air

Zhanzhuo General Aviation

Based: Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region

Fleet: 3 helicopters

Popular routes: Along the Yulong River

Price (per person): 10 minutes 900 yuan ($144); 15 minutes 1,000 yuan

Reignwood Star

Based: Beijing

Fleet: 10 helicopters, including two Bell 407s used for tours

Popular route: Miyun district to the National Stadium

Price (per person): 2,680 yuan for 20-minute trip

Beijing Capital Helicopter

Based: Beijing

Fleet: 9 helicopters, including the Robinson R44, the AS350 B3 and the EC135 for tours

Popular routes: Badaling in Beijing to the Great Wall area, including sections at Shuiguan and Juyongguan; Badaling to Kangxi Grassland and Wild Duck Lake to Guanting reservoir.

Price (per person): 3,000 yuan for 15-minute trip on Robinson R44

Sanya Yalong General Aviation

Based: Sanya, Hainan province

Fleet: More than 10, including the Robinson R44 and the Bell 407

Popular routes: Along the coastline on Haitang Bay

Price (per person): 900 yuan for coastline trip; 1,200 yuan for trip to Wuzhizhou Island