A helicopter flight in Dubai is the coolest excursion. I can confirm this from personal experience. In a YouTube video, I even said that instead of all the other excursions, you could just take one helicopter ride and that would be enough to leave you with plenty of memories. That’s why I decided to write a separate article about this experience.
What takes your breath away:
- The sensation of take-off and the helicopter’s turns
- The landscapes — the desert, skyscrapers, the sea, islands
- The photos left on your phone
- The noise the helicopter makes if you take off your headphones (don’t try this at home 🙂
My review of the helicopter flight over Dubai
In general, a helicopter tour over Dubai looks like this:
— a helicopter,
— a captain,
— six enthusiastic people inside.
It’s a bit of a shame that passengers are seated according to their weight (yes, everyone is weighed) to balance the helicopter, so you can’t choose your seat at the front or the back. It’s up to your weight 🙂 But the helicopter itself has almost panoramic windows, so honestly, it doesn’t really matter where you sit. The view is good from everywhere.
I really enjoyed the helicopter flight. There is a lot to see from above Dubai — probably an important criterion when choosing your first sightseeing flight over a city. The pilot tells you what you can see on the horizon, but in English, and somehow you don’t really pay attention to what he’s saying. But it’s easy to understand that this is the Burj Khalifa, there you are taking off over the Palm, and over there is Dubai Marina. The only place that’s more impressive is probably New York.
Among the various helicopter tours around the world that I browse from time to time, this is the most affordable one I can remember. There is another inexpensive one in South Africa, but it’s harder to get there… 🙂
How much does a helicopter tour in Dubai cost? Flight options
The price of a helicopter flight in Dubai depends on the duration. You can choose the flight time: 12 minutes, 17 minutes or 22 minutes. I recommend 12 or 17 minutes, and we booked this one because:
a) it’s cheaper,
b) the extra two minutes of ‘weather’ won’t make a difference,
c) 22 minutes is too long, in my opinion, and the ‘wow’ effect may be lost by the end of the flight.
How much does a helicopter flight in Dubai cost?
(per person)
12-minute flight: $210 ≈ 20,000 roubles
17-minute flight: $274 ≈ 26,500 roubles
22-minute flight $375 ≈ 36,000 roubles
You can compare it to the size of a cappuccino in a coffee shop: small, medium and large. You will enjoy a small one, but if you buy the largest one, you will probably not finish it.
Interestingly, the time slots are arranged so that if you choose 12 or 17 minutes, it is not possible to catch the sunset during the flight. But for 22 or 30 minutes — no problem 🙂
The helicopter can accommodate up to 6 people. There are also private flights, but they are much more expensive, so I will not list the prices here. Also in Dubai (as in New York, for example), you can order a helicopter taxi to/from the airport through the Uber app. Of course, such a treat will be much more expensive. I haven’t tried it, but judging by reviews on the internet, a 15-minute flight will cost from $700 (and that’s the price from two years ago; I haven’t found any more recent information).
