After a two month absence, U.S. Helicopter in January plans to resume flights to area airports from the heliport near the base of Wall Street.
Company officials are still awaiting final approval, but January 5 is the targeted date, according to the travel website NewYorkology.
The company, which provides weekday shuttle service about once an hour from Manhattan to Newark and Kennedy airports, has been unable to use the Downtown Heliport since at least November 1. That's when the publicly traded First Flight took over heliport management from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . At that point, the Transportation Security Administration had not yet approved the new company's security plan that allows heliport flights to land in the secure airport zones.
The Downtown Heliport handles many other flights, including sightseeing helicopters as well as the president and the pope when they visit New York .
A key part of US Helicopter's appeal is that it allows passengers to pass through TSA-approved security at the Manhattan heliports so they don’t have to be re-screened at the airports as long as they are transferring to partner airlines, Delta and Continental.
The TSA approved a new security plan December 10, the New York Times reports, but U.S. Helicopter has not yet worked out a lease for space at the heliport with the new operators, FirstFlight.
