CHOPPER SHOPPING.

Helicopter travel isn't just for the rich and famous. It's for business people, too.

Whirrr... perched in a sleek two-engine helicopter flying to Paris to catch the Concorde, sipping Champagne on the way to New York, Whirrr... on to a mid-town heliport, then jetting down to Miami, and my hair still looks great! Oh, er, right, I'm not in a TV commercial, nor jet setting around the world a la Alexis Carrington Colby in "Dynasty." All right, I'll admit, it's probably a financial factor--we're not about to turn in our Half-Price Abonnements and give up the Swiss Rail system anytime soon. Most of us would not likely part with Sfr20,000 to invite a group of friends to Monte Carlo to catch the Grand Prix. But business travel is something else. Why not hop on a chopper to travel from Zurich and Geneva for an emergency meeting?

For the average individual business traveller, an expense report for a helicopter flight will not make it through the accounting department. It would normally not be a cost-effective option, nor a substitute for flights on well-serviced airline routes. However, there are a host of reasons why someone would consider giving it a whirl, including privacy, convenience or simply because it's considered an affordable luxury.

VIP's whisking about-for example, to the January World Economic Forum in Davos, or year round to various business and personal meetings-are certainly the largest clientele segment for the leading helicopter companies in Switzerland. Heli-Link, based in Zurich and the official Helicopter service provider for the World Economic Forum, whisks VIP customers to Davos for 5fr8800--an option that may become more desirable if protests at such gatherings continue to worsen. And Swift Copters, from its base in Geneva, gravitates toward France. Picture a helicopter ride to that meeting at La Defense instead of sitting on the runway at Charles DeGaulle-or watching the minutes tick away as you wait for baggage.

Without helicopter travel, how could a business person manage four meetings in three neighbouring countries in one day? (Unless, of course, you started out from your office in Basel.) With chopper travel, you can start and end the day in Zurich, with stops in Innsbruck, Munich and Davos, all within normal business hours. A trip like that would take days to accomplish using regularly scheduled transportation. Not to mention the wear and tear. Corporate bean counters might not approve a helicopter trip for just one traveller, but for a group travelling together, they would be elated by the cost efficiency.

The only detriment to helicopter flights is operational--the weather and darkness. Most flights need to be operated with visual contact, and only a few companies in Switzerland have twin engine machines equipped to fly on instruments, but they still require landing places that have ground equipment, and those are even in smaller supply. Safety is definitely an issue, and if that is your concern, don't despair. The better companies fly with two pilots to minimise risk, since most accidents occur not because of technical failure, but pilot error. So the next time you're planning your business trip within a few hundred-kilometre radius in Europe, stop to consider travelling by helicopter. For just over Sfr5,000 per hour of flying time you can take-off, on your own schedule, in a luxury-equipped, twin-engine machine. If you have odd business trip schedules you can't afford not to consider this option. Give my regards to Alexis when you go.

SAMPLE FLIGHT TIMES WITH TWIN-ENGINE HELICOPTER
(approx. SF5,OOO/hour + Tax within CH)
Destination City  Milan       Paris               Nice
From Geneva       1 hour      1 hour 45 minutes   1 hour 20 minutes
From Zurich       50 minutes  2 hours 10 minutes  N/A
Destination City  Munich
From Geneva       N/A
From Zurich       45 minutes
Contacts: Heli-Link, Zurich: www.heli-link.ch. Swift Copters, Geneva:
www.swiftcopters.ch