As commuting by helicopter continues to grow in popularity, so too do the number of commercial routes available throughout the Pearl River Delta.

For RMB 4,999 ($770), commuters can hop on board an Astro Air helicopter and travel between Guanzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai in just half an hour, a fifth of the time when compared to other modes of transportation.

Passengers can depart from and arrive at helicopter landing pads in the Central Business District (CBD) areas of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and in the Hengqin New Area of Zhuhai, now part of the new free trade zone.

 

Astro Air is planning to expand service to other Guangdong cities including Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, and Jiangmen. As part of the expansion, Astro Air plans to establish routes between these cities’ CBD and their respective airport, according to Nanfang Daily.

Zhu Zilin of Astro Air said that his company has plans to bring the inter-city helicopter service to Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, otherwise known as the Yangtze River Delta, in the second half of 2016. Further expansion will bring helicopter service to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.

Astro Air was the first company to offer helicopter service between Shenzhen and Guangzhou in August of this year, while similar services have been growing in popularity throughout China.

Last September, Nanfang Airlines Corporation offered helicopter service between Guangzhou and Macau in 45 minutes. This past May, the Didi Kuaidi car-sharing service partnered with a helicopter company to provide service between Beijing and Tianjin for RMB 3,500 ($560), completing the 120 kilometer journey in just 40 minutes.