Fly from Lower Manhattan to JFK Airport with Uber Copter
NEW YORK: When Uber Technologies Inc announced an aerial ride-hailing division, Uber Elevate, three years ago, the internet and news media buzzed with chatter of flying cars becoming a reality in the not-so-distant future.
While these aerial vehicles have yet to debut, the ride-hailing service is expanding into helicopter service, called Uber Copter, starting July 9 in New York City.
The new service, booked through Uber’s app, will take passengers between Lower Manhattan and Kennedy International Airport.
“This is a trip that so many travellers make a day, and we see an opportunity to save them a huge amount of time on it,” said Eric Allison, the head of Uber Elevate.
Currently, that trip by car can take at least an hour, and in rush hour traffic, can last more than two hours. Uber Copter promises to cut the total travel experience, including ground transportation, to as little as 30 minutes.
Uber Copter will be available only to users who are platinum and diamond members — the top two tiers — of the company’s loyalty programme, Uber Rewards.
These customers can book Uber Copter on demand or up to five days in advance. The helicopters accommodate up to five people and will run Monday through Friday during the afternoon rush. Once seats are reserved, passengers will receive an e-mail from Uber with a boarding pass.
Similar to Uber rides, Uber Copter will have dynamic pricing determined largely by demand.
Uber Elevate’s head of product, Nikhil Goel, said the average ride would cost $200 to $225 a person.
In Manhattan, the helicopters depart and land from a heliport near the Staten Island Ferry; at Kennedy, they depart and land at a helipad near Terminal 8.
“Passengers will be picked up or dropped off by car in Manhattan, and at Kennedy, they’ll be met at the helicopter tarmac by a car and driven directly to their terminal or picked up at the terminal and taken to the helicopter tarmac,’’ Goel said.
The helicopters will be operated by HeliFlite, a company based in Newark, New Jersey, with a fleet of twin-engine helicopters. Two pilots will be on every flight, and riders will be shown a 90-second safety video before taking off.
Uber isn’t the only company offering shared helicopter rides between airport and urban areas: In March, Blade Urban Air Mobility, a short-distance aviation company that operates in select cities, debuted Blade Airport, a helicopter service that flies between three private Blade terminals in Manhattan and Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International Airports.