Mori To Start Narita-Tokyo Helicopter Shuttle Service

[Mulboyne]

Mori Building has announced that it has set up a new company which will offer a helicopter shuttle service between Narita Airport and central Tokyo. Given that Mori built a very prominent helipad on the top of Roppongi Hills (see above), you'd be forgiven for thinking that the company would be using that for the flights. However, Mori has announced instead that the journey will be to and from the Ark Hills complex down the road. There are no details so far on how much a trip will cost, or how long it will take, but the service is set to start in spring so more information is expected to be forthcoming. For comparison, the Narita Heli-Express charges 260,350 yen for a 20 minute shuttle between the airport and Tokyo Heliport which is inconveniently located east of the city centre near Shin Kiba station. Mori expects the service to be used mostly by VIPs and businessman but the company will start slowly and has yet to decide whether they will be operating one or two helicopters at the outset.

[Bucky]

Sheesh, for the Narita Heli service, you better have a robust travel budget. I presume these are one way and for chartering the entire chopper so you could spread the cost out among as many folks as you could squeeze in. It is interesting that the Narita Heli's tarriff page mentions that you must have minimum of one person. I guess that rules out sending your pet by itself.

(Tokyo)260,350 Yen
(Saitama-Kawajima)235,000 Yen
(Gunma)355,580 Yen

Pretty spendy compared to NYC at $800.00 per person to the airport.
http://www.newyorkhelicopter.com/cart/transfers.html

I guess if you load up the Tokyo service with 3 or 4 people you can see the cost being about equal.

[Greji]

the Narita Heli-Express charges 260,350 yen for a 20 minute shuttle

That's a bit steep to run a thriving heli business deshouu? One way to Sapporo for a regular flight is only around 3 man on a 747!

[klimmer]

Not to mention tactless, in a recession and carbon emissions sensitive envirnment.

[Mulboyne]

525,000 yen for a one way trip.

[Doctor Stop]

[Mulboyne]

Japan Probe reports an Asahi account which says Mori will start a service charging as little as 38,000 yen for a one-way trip (the normal price will be 50,000).

[IkemenTommy]

525,000 yen for a one way trip.

Japan Probe reports an Asahi account which says Mori will start a service charging as little as 38,000 yen for a one-way trip (the normal price will be 50,000).

Getting closer to a more realistic figure, but I still wouldn't take a ride in it.

[nottu]

[Mulboyne]

First customer: Dora Chong of French perfume giant Coty. The helicopter went from Ark Hills but the Grand Hyatt will also act as an agent for the shuttle service because they have the kind of high end guests who might use it. Chong says she usually takes the limousine bus service but has often been frustrated by traffic jams. Although she was taken off in the more expensive Hermes-furnished today, she pointed out that an ordinary one-way price of 38,000 yen is in the same ballpark as a taxi journey so she would be happy to keep using it.

[Bucky]

Fly FREE!! Just buy a full-fare Biz or 1st Class ticket on AA

American Airlines has a new proposition for premium travelers in Japan: Fly with us, and we'll give you a free helicopter ride to and from the airport. Launched Thursday, the deal intensifies the battle for the highly lucrative business and first-class market in Japan. It also comes as the carrier fights to keep its foothold in the country, with rival Delta Air Lines attempting to lure Japan Airlines away from American's oneworld alliance.
At stake are JAL's lucrative Asian routes, a big revenue stream, more power to help shape overseas customer options and ticket prices and the potential to one day fly aircraft and passengers on JAL's routes.
American and its oneworld alliance partners, including Japan Airlines, currently have about 35 percent of U.S.-Japan market share. That would drop to 6 percent if JAL leaves oneworld and dilute American's revenue from the region.
The latest promotion is available to trans-Pacific travelers booking nonstop, full-fare business or first class tickets through American's Japan-based Web site.
Taking off from a heliport in central Tokyo, eligible passengers can reach the Narita airport in about 30 minutes, compared to 60 to 90 minutes by train or bus. Rides are operated by American's partner in the campaign, Mori Building City Air Services Co.
Rival All Nippon Airways is offering a similar, though more limited, service for its highest-paying customers through March 31. ANA is giving first class passengers traveling roundtrip from North America a complimentary helicopter ride into Tokyo.
American's deal runs through Dec. 15, according to its Web site.

[Bucky]

Apparently business is doing well.

Mori helicopter service may add eight-seater to fleet
Bloomberg

Mori Building City Air Services Co., which runs a helicopter service between downtown Tokyo and Narita airport, may add a third chopper now that tieups with airlines have boosted traffic.

The unit of Mori Building Co., Japan's biggest closely held developer, may add an eight-seat helicopter to its two existing four-seaters, Koichi Ueno, a managing director, said Wednesday in Tokyo, without giving a time frame. The helicopter service pares travel times from downtown Tokyo to Narita to about 30 minutes, he said.

Mori has doubled monthly passenger numbers since starting flights in September after American Airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Alitalia SpA and Japan Airlines Corp. joined All Nippon Airways Co. in offering the service to business and first-class passengers. East Japan Railway Co.'s Narita Express train takes about an hour to make the approximately 80-km trip from Tokyo Station to the nation's busiest international airport.

"We're getting a lot of repeaters on our service," Ueno said. "Narita is a long way from central Tokyo and the trip used to take a lot of time."

Narita, which handled 32 million passengers last year, is improving connections as Tokyo's other airport, Haneda, expands capacity with the opening of a new runway in October.

Keisei Electric Railway Co. added a faster train link to Narita airport last week, reducing the trip to Nippori on the loop line of Tokyo's city-rail system to as little as 36 minutes. Trains from Haneda reach the loop line in as little as 16 minutes.

Mori Building City Air flies passengers to Sakura airport, near Narita, from Ark Hills Heliport in downtown Tokyo. After the 15-minute helicopter flight, passengers take a 15-minute limousine ride to Narita, according to the company's Web site.

A one-way ticket costs \45,000. Some airlines offer free rides to some business-class and first-class customers. Passenger numbers have climbed to as many as 300 a month from around 150 when the service started, Ueno said.