Central Japan’s most famous cherry blossom spot now has sakura helicopter sky cruises

Plans offer a (whirly)bird’s-eye view of Nara’s top cherry blossom destination.

Out of all the places in Japan to see cherry blossoms, the town of Yoshino, in Nara Prefecture, just might be the very best. That’s because there are more than 30,000 sakura trees on the slopes of Mt. Yoshino, making for one of the largest concentrations of cherry blossoms to be found anywhere in the country when they burst into bloom each spring.

However, you might have noticed a certain drawback in that scenario. Cherry blossom trees on the side of a mountain means you’re going to have to walk uphill to see them all, and 30,000-plus cherry trees on the side of a mountain means you’re going to need to do a lot of walking. There’s also the fact that, as impressive as Yoshino’s number of sakura tress may be, with that many it’s going to be pretty hard to take them all in unless you’re at a point on the path where there’s an elevated outlook.

So if you’re looking for a way to see Yoshino’s full sakura splendor, and also to save your feet some agony, there is indeed a way to do both of those, thanks to Japanese charter flight company AirX.

This cherry blossom season, AirX will be offering chartered helicopter flights with views of the Mt. Yoshino cherry blossoms over the course of three days, April 4, 5, and 6. The flights will depart from a heliport set up in Yoshino’s Tenkawamura district for 10-minute sky cruises, with the route mapped out in the below image.

▼ We’re assuming that’s the approximate flightpath, and not a promise that your helicopter will circle around a specific single sakura tree.

Reservations can be made between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., with a maximum capacity of three passengers in addition to the pilot.

▼ Note that there’s also a collective passenger weight limit of 220 kilograms (485 pounds), as the helicopter is a compact model.

AirX will also be offering helicopter flights between Yoshino and Osaka Prefecture’s Yao Airport. These 30-minute flights will take place just once a day (at 12:30 p.m. for the Yoshino-to-Yao route and 1:30 p.m. for the Yoa-to-Yoshino flights). Finally, for those who want more time in the sky, or prefer their air travel to be of the fixed-wing variety, AirX has 40 and 60-minute Yoshino cherry blossom-viewing helicopter and Cessna flights that take off from Yao, circle around the sakura, and then land back at the Osaka airport.

▼ The 60-minute route

The 10-minute sakura helicopter fight is priced at 62,700 yen (US$399), regardless of how many people are in your party. The 40 and 60-minute flights are 150,000 and 220,000 yen for those chartering the helicopter and 128,000 and 189,000 yen for those chartering the Cessna. One way flights between Yoshino and Yao are 40,000 yen per person. Reservations can be made through AirX’s Airos reservation system website here.

Oh, and according to this year’s sakura forecast, the cherry blossoms are predicted to start blooming in Nara on March 29, which means that if the initial estimate holds true, they should be approaching full bloom just as AirX’s helicopter cruises are flying over.

Related: AirX official website
Source, images: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: Airos, PR Times
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