By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Like calling a taxi, you will be able to call a jet from next month as an ``air taxi'' service will take to the skies.
Hanseo Aerospace said Tuesday that it received an air service license from the aviation authorities and will start a chartered plane rental service next month with an 18-seat Beechcraft-1900D turboprop.
Meeting customers' demand to move from a specific airport to another on their own schedule, it will be the first ``air taxi'' service here. Only several business leaders have private jets, so the demand for the new private charter service is expected to be high.
The charter fee will be around 2 million won per hour, lower than 5 million won for a helicopter. ``The time spent boarding will be much shorter than taking ordinary planes, so business people or entertainers who need to go to provincial cities quickly are likely to be the main customers,'' said an official at the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration.
The carrier plans to buy two more aircraft by the end of the year.
It also plans to expand the service to international routes after having enough domestic experience, playing the role of ``air ambulance'' to transfer emergency patients who need immediate surgery or organ transplants.
The airline was set up in 2005 as a corporation associated with Hanseo University. It has operated planes and helicopters used to extinguish forest fires.