A heliport has been constructed on high ground near the seaside of Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, and activities such as skydiving and sightseeing via helicopter will begin in March as a new tourism resource for the town.
A skydiving project began in 2016 in which light aircraft would depart from Shirahama Airport and participants would skydive to the seashore. It gained popularity due to its rare feature of participants being able to come down by the sea. However, it could only use the airport for a limited number of trips, and the project ended in 2018 following the death of the business owner in an accident.
The president of Freebird, an aviation event planning and operating company located in Kyoto City, was a friend of the owner. He declared, "We want to implement a sky sightseeing project utilizing helicopters to carry on my friend's legacy."
The local Hikigawa Society of Commerce and Industry leased to Freebird land that had been used as a storage area for rubble left over from the construction of a tunnel for the Kisei Expressway, and a roughly 5,600-square-meter heliport was built.
Two helicopters, one large and one small, are operated by Takumi Aviation, which has its headquarters located in Okayama City.
The company president said: "If 200 skydiving clients come each month, we can turn a profit. In addition to sightseeing promotions, we'd also like to be of help in areas such as emergency management and the transport of goods."
One sightseeing trip can accommodate up to three people at a time. A 3-minute course in a helicopter costs 9,980 yen including tax and the 15-minute course costs 37,500 yen excluding tax. Tandem skydiving, where you are strapped to an experienced skydiving instructor, costs 35,000 yen per person excluding tax.
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