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Amy Nip

A helicopter service operator is expanding its heliport despite a drop in passenger numbers. 
Sky Shuttle Helicopters,  which operates  services between Hong Kong and Macau, also bought six  new-model  aircraft last year, two of which went into  service last week.
The company opened  its   560 square metre check-in and passenger lounge yesterday - six times as big as the previous facility. 
The development was part of an expansion plan to double the heliport's  capacity. 
Sky Shuttle would finish building another helipad  in the last quarter of this year, alongside the  one at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal  building in Sheung Wan,   chief executive Cheyenne Chan  said. 
Ms Chan said passenger numbers dropped 8 per cent last year - the first drop after the firm's  annual double-digit growth from 2003 to 2007. 
'Even if business is not as good for now, it doesn't mean it will be bad in the future. In the middle and long run, I am optimistic' about  the helicopter business, she said.  'As a Hong Kong-based company, we hope there is good infrastructure for helicopters in Hong Kong.' 
A helicopter usually costs Euro8 million to Euro9 million (HK$92.2 million), according to Giuseppe Orsi,  chief executive of Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland.  He did not reveal the price  Sky Shuttle was paying. 
It was quieter inside the new AW-139, 15-passenger  carriers, heliport operations assistant director Carmen Chan Nga-keng  said. The helicopters had stronger engines, providing a maximum cruising speed of 306km/h, about 30km/h faster than  the company's  five older  12-passenger  Sikorsky S-76C+ aircraft,  which was put into service in 1997. 
Two of the new carriers are undergoing safety checks and another two will arrive in the next two months, after which the five old helicopters will be sold in September.
The fare  to Macau was raised  by HK$100, to HK$2,500, from this month. The firm said there would be no  further increases this year.



Helicopter service launches expansion