The Peninsula Shanghai is seeking to emulate its sister property in Hong Kong and offer guests helicopter tours from its rooftop on the Bund.

The proposed service has to pass a number of regulatory hurdles, however, to become the first helicopter tour service in the city. In Shanghai, helicopters are rarely used commercially beyond flying critically injured patients to local hospitals.

The East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China is currently looking into how feasible it is to allow the five-star hotel to operate a helipad on its rooftop.  

The hotel has already set aside an area for the proposed service, said Amanda Li, a public relations representative for the hotel, with an "aviatio lounge" on the 14th floor designed with such a service in mind.  

The Peninsula Hong Kong offers guests a 12-minute helicopter tour of the Victoria Harbor.

Under existing standards, the area of the helipad has to be at least one-and-a-half times larger than the diameter of the helicopter's rotor, He said. The helipad also has to have a radio station to communicate with the flights.

The application procedure also requires the hotel to create medical rescue plans for emergencies.