Chartered choppers the way to travel

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Crowds of Formula One race fans could bring big traffic jams to roads near the track in southeast Travis County.

Circuit of The Americas expects up to 50,000 fans at the track Friday, up to 80,000 Saturday, and the crowds could reach 120,000 on Sunday.

But there is a way to beat the crowds on the road.

Race fans have booked thousands of chartered helicopter rides to get to the track.

A busy weekend is in store for Austin Executive Airport in Pflugerville.

Friday morning, helicopters were up and down, in and out of there like clockwork hauling race fans to and from the Circuit of The Americas track.

One company, Charlie Bravo Charter , is booked solid for race weekend.

"It's been really interesting so to see the demand for helicopters," says Charlie Bravo Charter CEO Rene Banglesdorf. "They're already getting busy out at the track, having two and three come in at a time."

KXAN joined in, hopping on a turbine helicopter. We took off toward the race track. We could see Downtown Austin in the hazy distance as we flew over fields and roads.
     
We reached altitudes of about 1,000 feet. The charter company is giving just as many rides.

"We have about a thousand passengers that our company is transporting with about 18 different helicopters," said Banglesdorf.

As the helicopter KXAN was aboard closed in on the track, we could see parking lots beginning to fill up, and the bright colors popping from the raceway and grandstand.

Landing on one of several helipads, travel by helicopter is certainly a convenient way to travel.     

"It's a very relaxed way to arrive," Banglesdorf says.

It costs passengers upwards of about $650 round trip, but this one-of-a-kind view is only possible from the sky.

The downtown drop-off and pick-up sight for chartered helicopter flights is the Embassy Suites on South Congress Avenue.