Air Charters With An Altitude

Published September 2008


Not too long ago I was given the opportunity to tag along on what was my first helicopter ride. Never having been in one before I felt a little nervous yet pretty keen at the same time. The experience could not have been more enjoyable as it gave me some truly unparalleled views of Kota Kinabalu city and her surrounding islands. Organized by Sabah Air Aviation Sdn. Bhd. and briefed by Ms. Tova Waage, Sabah Air's Marketing Manager, I did feel a little precious walking to the waiting Jet Bell Ranger and tried to soak up and observe as much as I could as we whirred off for a city tour. 

Tova was kind enough to sit with me for a bit and answer some laypersonlike questions I had about Sabah Air and helicopters in general, joking "We offer air charters with an altitude".


Could you tell us a bit more about Sabah Air's history?
Sabah Air began operations in 1975 and was then a solely owned company. The government now owns 51% of the company but the management is new and is going to take Sabah Air to a new level. We have basically come up with an updated logo and branding which is something fresh and exciting for the company. We are also going to redo every single helicopter and aircraft with the new logos, a rebranding of image.

At the moment we do mainly aerial surveys and government work but we are starting to do more tourist transfers from hotels. We also do a lot of work underslum, which means that if the government builds a school in the interiors of Sabah the helicopter would transport all the material there - which then has a low impact on the enviroment. You wouldn't have to build roads to ferry the materials, you could just use a helicopter.



Who would you say are the niche market segment that Sabah Air is gearing towards with your rebranding?
We want want to cover every possible angle, whether it is construction, aerial surveys, VIP transfers, we want to be there for everybody at a reasonable rate. I have actually looked at other helicopter charter sites worldwide and to be honest we are a quarter of the price compared to what is charged in places like Australia and the UK. So we are very reasonable and very competitive.



What are some of the highlights of seeing Kota Kinabalu by air?
It gives you a whole new perspective of things, looking down below as opposed to standing on the ground. It is easier to get your bearings, to get the layout of the land. And what a great way to enjoy places like Mount Kinabalu and the countryside. We offer twenty minute joyrides around the city based on 4 passengers that works out to be around RM260 per person. We also offer Mount Kinabalu aerial tours which are an hour long.



Helicopters can go anywhere and everywhere?
As long as you give us a landing space the size of a tennis court, that's all we need. 



Any interesting requests from passengers?
Yes there was this young man who wanted to propose to his girlfriend. So together with this young man and a local resort here we decided to write his proposal in the sand for the lady to read. 
This was a surprise and the lady knew nothing. The helicopter went to pick them up, off they flew and backed over this message in the sand. The young lady then cries and agrees to marry the man and it's all very exciting. But the captain was afraid and asked me beforehand "What do I do if she says no?". I told him to just keep flying. 

And it's small things like that which are fun where we get to be flexible. There are a couple of helicopter flights in October where we are going to be working together with a local tour operator where we will transfer people from a resort here to a restaurant. The thing is that the guests all think that they will be transferred by bus. So the plan is to have the buses conveniently break down right by a clearing. There will be lots of irritated people, some screaming and shouting especially when they are told they won't be able to get another bus. 
Then the organizer will call me, the helicopters will fly in and take these guests off to dinner as a surprise. 



What does Sabah Air offer by way of services in the tourism market?
We actually offer short flights to places like Kudat where there is an extremely short runway on which only certain aircraft may land. We also fly to Layang-Layang island which is one hour and twenty minutes by flight on the Nomad which can seat about 10 people. 
For the helicopters we have the Bell Jet Ranger 206 which can seat 4 people and the Long Ranger which can seat 6 people and can get you from Kota Kinabalu to Kudat in 40 minutes. 



What would you like the public to know about Sabah Air?
We are committed to highlighting the beauty that Sabah has to offer. It's all so picturesque and scenic. That we are also flexible, that we can follow pretty much any request you have provided it doesn't go against aviation rules and regulations. And that helicopter charters are not as expensive as people think. That has long been fixed in people's mindsets; that helicopters are only for VIPs and that they are expensive. We want to change this because that is just not the case 



Sabah Air Aviation Sdn. Bhd.
Locked Bag 113
Kota Kinabalu 88999
Sabah, Malaysia
Telephone : +6-088-484733 / 484326 / 484687
Fax : +6-088-484557