When you hear the word “taxi”, your very first image might be of a pale blue or bright yellow sedan cruising the city streets. But for a moment, let’s toss that image aside: Taxis are going up a few notches, even as high as the sky.

Places to go and more money than time? Take your place in a helicopter taxi or first-class cab.

The discomfort, headache and worry of trying to fight through traffic, when you have more important things to do than sit around getting nowhere and doing nothing, can be a thing of the past. With a heli taxi, you’ll reach your destination in the fastest and most stylish of ways. But if time is not an issue, you can take it easy by making the most of being stuck in traffic and hop into a premium service taxi with all its extra services.

Ready to try a fine taxi journey? Take your seat and let’s take off with the first comfy ride: heli taxi, or, as it is also called, the helimousine.

With a fleet of exclusive Bell jets – one of the world’s best-known names in helicopters – heli taxis answer your need for a quick transfer. Imagine this: You need to be at the airport ASAP, but that infamous Jakarta congestion or flood just won’t get you there on time.

In this case, nothing can get you to your destination as fast as a heli taxi can. Instead of that stressful one — or two-hour trip from Jakarta to the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Cengkareng, West Java, a heli taxi will get you there in seven minutes.

Even better, “Customers don’t have to queue up at the check-in counter,” says Maria Goretti Lioba, marketing manager of PT. Air Pacific Utama, a heli taxi operator. “They just go straight to the departure hall.”

There is no need to sacrifice comfort for speed with Air Pacific Utama’s heli taxi service. Not only does the company offer a seat in the top-notch cabin of a Bell 407, it also promises you a ride with low noise and little vibration. As an added bonus, you get the pleasure of taking in the aerial view of the city from your window.

So, for this fast and comfortable ride, how much must you spend?

“It’s US$1,550 per hour, excluding 10 percent tax. [One taxi] can take up to five passengers,” Maria says. A transfer to the airport, however, comes in at $850 for two people. She says an extra $400 is charged for a two-hour waiting fee, and if the pilot and mechanic have to spend a night somewhere, another fee of $550 is charged.

Rather more expensive than your average cab, for sure, but for those important businesspeople for whom time really is money, it’s a mere drop. Besides, someone chasing down a contract worth millions of dollar can’t afford to miss their flight.

“Our busiest days were when the [Soekarno-Hatta] airport toll road was flooded last year,” Maria recalls. “Our helicopters had to go back and forth from Jakarta to Cengkareng for a few days to transfer passengers.”

The airport, of course, is not the only destination for heli taxi customers, Maria says: “We can take you to other destinations, even to as far as Kalimantan.”

For this kind of service, politicians are among the most loyal of heli taxi passengers. “We had them onboard recently for election campaigns in remote areas,” Maria says. “Heli taxis really saved them time when they had to visit two or three areas on the same day. It only takes three to five minutes by heli taxi from one spot to another.”

According to Maria, the company has several pick-up points equipped with helipads, including at the Aryaduta International Hotel (Central Jakarta), Citra Graha Hotel (Gatot Subroto, Central Jakarta), Aston Hotel (Sudirman, Central Jakarta), Kemang Village (South Jakarta), Saint Diego Hills (Karawang, West Java) and Sentul Hills (Bogor, West Java). However, if customers specially request a pick-up point, she says, the company will try to accommodate them.

As well as suiting business purposes – including for photography, filming and aerial surveys – Maria adds that a heli taxi is also a perfect pick for pleasure and an exciting way to do some sightseeing.

“If you’re interested in sightseeing, a city tour, a beach or island tour, or a volcano or mountain tour, then a heli taxi is your ideal choice,” she says.

Of course, it’s not all fun and games: Heli taxis have proved useful in emergency situations.

“People sometimes rent heli taxis for emergency evacuations during fires or accidents,” Maria says.

“When the Situ Gintung dam tragedy occurred [in March], for example, Governor [Fauzi Bowo] used our heli taxi to get the fastest ride to the spot.”

Providing a heli taxi for emergency evacuations is a service also offered by another operator PT Derazona Air Service, whose taxis are also used for aerial surveys, business trips and political campaigns. Suroyo Raharjo, the company’s corporate secretary, says that the emergency evacuation service is also known as an air ambulance.

“Once, we transferred a patient from Tegal [in Central Java] to the Pertamina Hospital [in Jakarta],” Suroyo says. “He was severely injured in an accident and almost died. But thank God, he survived because of the immediate transfer.”

As Suroyo pointed out, heli taxis aren’t only about luxury, but also necessity.

“In a city like Jakarta, where traffic jams are maddening, a heli taxi is a real solution for an emergency evacuation,” he says. “No matter how loud an ambulance’s siren, it won’t do much if the ambulance is trapped in congestion.”

But unfortunately, Suroyo says, “there aren’t many hospitals yet in Jakarta that are equipped with helipads. And this is something that the government should look after.”

According to Suroyo, Derazona charges $1,250 per hour for four passengers riding in its Bell 406 B. For its Bell 412, with a capacity of 13 passengers, the fare is $4,000 to $4,500 per hour.

“It’s expensive, but it does offer value for money,” Suroyo says.

Value for money is also the catchphrase for first-class taxis. If there’s no emergency and you don’t have a pressing need for speed, premium cabs mean that at least that time stuck in Jakarta’s traffic snarls is spent in comfort and with plenty to do. After all, if you’re going to be stuck in a jam anyway, why not make an outing of it?

Tiara Express is one of the premium taxi services you can turn to whenever you need to beat traffic jams gracefully. Each Tiara taxi is a deluxe, silver Toyota Alphard AS 2.4 that is specially tailored for those looking for a secure, convenient, prestigious and hi-tech vehicle that can carry up to six passengers.

“The spacious interior is the right choice for those who travel in groups,” says Daniel Podiman, president director for PT Express Trasindo Utama, which operates Tiara Express. And because the MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) taxi runs on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), he adds, they help “keep the environment green”.

Daniel points out that each Tiara taxi is equipped with state-of-the art features such as wireless internet (Wi-fi), a plug for charging mobile phones or laptops, and LCD screens. This means that while others are grumbling about the congestion and staring out at non-moving scenery, you, on the other hand, can surf the Internet or watch a movie.

The taxis are also equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide passengers with location information. And if you don’t have cash with you, don’t worry: An electronic swipe machine enables you to pay the fare by credit or debit card.

Tiara taxis, which now have 200 units running from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, hotels, business centers and malls, charge Rp 10,000 for the flag fall and Rp 5,000 per kilometer, about twice the standard taxi fare.

If an MPV taxi isn’t to your taste, perhaps you’d prefer to ride in a Mercedes C 230. Under the name Silver Bird, these limousine taxis began to appear on Jakarta’s streets in June 2007. The Mercedes C-Class taxis replaced the old Nissan Cedrics, but both models come in black to bring a touch of class to the taxi industry. Silver Bird charges Rp 7,500 for the flag fall and Rp 4,500 per kilometer.

As with Tiara, Silver Birds are equipped with GPS and you can pay electronically. It also has another special service: an English-speaking chauffeur to make communication easier for expatriates and foreign visitors.

Agus Kurniawan, a loyal Silver Bird passenger, admits he has his favorite drivers for this Mercedes C-Class taxi.

“I have three favorite drivers … Pak Kardi, Pak Endi and Pak Simon,” says the manager of a private company, showing each driver’s phone number on his cell phone.

“Sometimes I call them not to drive me, but to pick up my foreign business partners and take them around the city.”

contacts

Helicopter taxis

Air Pacific Utama: (021) 5469 98889

Derazona Air Service: (021) 809 3427

Premium taxis

Tiara Express: (021) 2650 8000

Silver Bird: (021) 798 1234

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