Tomoko Suzuki's boyfriend gave her a special birthday present this year -- a night view of the Tokyo metropolis from an altitude of 600 meters and at speeds up to 200 kph.

"I'm really happy," said an excited Suzuki, an office worker from Saitama Prefecture, as she disembarked from the helicopter at its port near Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.

"I sat next to the pilot and saw (the city) spotted with lights like jewels," she said, describing her night bird's view of the capital's skyscrapers and cars.

The 14,800 yen cost of the 20-minute flight -- a secret guarded from Suzuki -- may sound a bit steep, but this hasn't stopped night flights from gaining popularity among young couples in Japan.

Most customers are young, unmarried couples in their 20s and 30s looking for a little romance in the sky.

"Some couples have been blindfolded and brought here (to the heliport) by friends after their wedding ceremony," said Hideya Kurosaki of helicopter service company Excel Air Service Inc.

Despite the high operating costs, some companies have recently begun offering new, cheaper tours in a bid to lure even more customers.

On July 1, Excel Air Service started to operate a 15-minute tour for 9,800 yen on Thursdays, Sundays and national holidays.

"We have fewer customers on Thursdays and Sundays because many people want to fly on Friday and Saturday nights," explained Kurosaki of the Tokyo-based helicopter operator.

The Pearl Course, as the new tour is called, flies over Urayasu, Tokyo Disneyland and Ginza.

Still, operation costs are a major obstacle to more customer-friendly prices and are keeping many tourist helicopter businesses in the red.

The cost of the helicopters, themselves -- some carry price tags of nearly 1 billion yen -- and high maintenance costs are the main reasons for this, industry sources said.

"We are still in the red as far as the night cruising business is concerned. We want to increase the number of passengers from the current 11,000 a year to between 15,000 and 20,000," said Kurosaki.

Kurosaki says that Excel Air Service is the only helicopter company that regularly offers night helicopter cruises in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but some other companies also provide night flights during the Christmas season, partly to publicize their services.

Aero Asahi Corp. offers a nightly tour on weekends during the yearend season. A 15-minute flight is priced at 14,700 yen.

According to Satoshi Kinebuchi of the firm's marketing section, the company's tourist branch is far from profitable.

Since Aero Asahi has to charge nearly 500,000 yen to make a profit from its regular 20-minute business flights connecting a heliport near Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture, company officials feel tourist flight services could only generate losses.

"It doesn't pay at all if we charge (much lower) prices for tourist flights," Kinebuchi said, explaining that Aero Asahi maintains as its core services transporting building materials to mountainous areas and spraying agricultural chemicals.

But there are other ways of seeing the city from above.

Honda Airways Corp., a subsidiary of automaker Honda Motor Co., offers a 40-minute night cruise in a propeller plane over Urawa and Omiya in Saitama Prefecture and other areas of Tokyo's Yamanote Line.

The plane, capable of seating three passengers, takes off from Honda Airport in Kawashima-cho, Saitama Prefecture, a 15-minute car ride from Okegawa Station on the JR Takasaki Line. Tickets are priced at 18,000 yen.

Honda Airways' flight services also attract many customers during the Christmas season. About 50 couples enjoyed the 21,000 yen night flights last year, said company official Tokuichi Tominaga. Prices for the upcoming season have yet to be decided.

The company also runs 22 regular daytime flight services in three-seater planes. Tickets range from 7,500 yen for a seven-minute flight to 75,000 yen for flights to Enoshima and Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture.