by Bambang Purwanto

JAKARTA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Helicopters, as a transportation mode, are offering a promising market in the aviation sector in Indonesia for business, leisure and emergency purposes, a legislator has said.

"Flying taxis can be an alternative in the transportation sector, especially for emergencies," Chairman of Indonesia's Regional Representative Council, AA LaNyalla Mahmud Mattalitti, said in West Java city of Cirebon recently.

According to him, helicopters, though with higher prices, make it faster to reach places that are difficult to access by land including remote areas in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua.

Flying taxis can also be used as air ambulances to evacuate victims from disaster areas, distribute medicines and send medical teams to remote areas, he said.

The head of Mimika district in Papua province, Eltinus Omaleng recently launched an air mobile health center service to meet the medical needs of local people, especially those who live in remote areas in the district.

"Many people living in remote and coastal areas have difficulty getting health services. We can serve our families who are there with this service," Omaleng said when working on an air mobile health center program.

This service run by the Mimika district administration is the first in Indonesia operated by the Papuan company PT Unitrade Persada Nusantara. It is used to support the work of medical personnel including doctors and nurses at a number of health community centers in remote areas.

The company operates a Bell 412 helicopter with a capacity of almost 2 tons to support the health mission of the Mimika district administration.

Such a helicopter service is also run by PT Whitesky Aviation, an aviation company specializing in charter flights in Indonesia.

In cooperation with hotel company the Grand Mangku Putra Arcade, PT Whitesky Aviation opened an air taxi service and an air ambulance service operating the route from Cengkareng to Cilegon city in Banten province.

CEO of Whitesky Aviation Denon Prawiraatmadja said the opening of this new route is expected to contribute to development of the tourism and business sector in Cilegon.

The transportation company provides air taxi services with two types of helicopters, namely the Bell 505 single engine which can carry three passengers, and the Bell 429 double engine with a capacity of six passengers.

The air transport service is charged around 7.5 million rupiahs (522 U.S. dollars) per flight of one helicopter with three passengers.

By using a helicopter, the trip from Cilegon to capital Jakarta only takes 25 minutes, compared to two hours by land. Enditem

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