How To Rise Above It All

Top executives fed up with airport delays and traffic jams are fueling a boom in helicopter travel. Companies, such as London-based PremiAir and Europe-wide RotorMotion, charter their craft to businesses seeking to ferry employees to key meetings and clients to golf outings, as well as to shorten the commute of business leaders from their suburban homes. Honeywell forecasts a 40 percent rise in demand for civil helicopters in the next five years.

The world's undisputed heli-capital is São Paulo, which boasts 250 helipads, most of them private—thanks in part to Brazil's soaring crime rates, which make the rich feel vulnerable on the streets. New York has three heliports used to fly execs on business and private junkets. And London's main helipad at Battersea is full to capacity, with stockbrokers taking clients to dinner and rich Russians viewing luxury properties.

Fliers tend to favor the twin-engine Agusta, which is faster and safer than a single-engine craft. PremiAir charters the sleek, black Sikorsky S-76 with a cabin seating up to 12 for about $5,000 per hour. But entrepreneurs prefer to buy their own, favoring the $375,000 four-seat Robinson Raven II. It's the best way to travel from the boardroom to the country estate.

© 2007