Uber helicopter service set for Manhattan

Uber is to launch a helicopter service in New York City which is expected to offer flights from Lower Manhattan to Kennedy International Airport in eight minutes. A New York Times report says the average flight on the Uber Copter will cost $200-225 per person and include ground transportation on both ends of the trip. Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate - the ride-hailing firm’s aerial division - says: “Our plan is to eventually roll out Uber Copter to more Uber customers and to other cities, but we want
June 12, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
8336 Uber is to launch a helicopter service in New York City which is expected to offer flights from Lower Manhattan to Kennedy International Airport in eight minutes.


A %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external New York Times false https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/travel/uber-helicopter-nyc-jfk.html false false%> report says the average flight on the Uber Copter will cost $200-225 per person and include ground transportation on both ends of the trip.

Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate - the ride-hailing firm’s aerial division - says: “Our plan is to eventually roll out Uber Copter to more Uber customers and to other cities, but we want to do it right. The main goal of this initial venture is to understand the operations behind aerial vehicles.”

Starting on 9 July, Uber Copters will be available to Platinum and Diamond members of Uber Rewards - the company’s loyalty programme.

These members will be able to book Uber Copter on demand or up to five days in advance. Each chopper can carry up to five passengers and will operate from Monday to Friday during the afternoon rush hour. Users receive a boarding pass via email after reserving their seats.

Uber Copters in Manhattan will take off and land from a heliport near Staten Island Ferry. In Kennedy, the helicopters will depart and land at a helipad near Terminal 8.

HeliFlite, a helicopter transportation service, will operate the Uber Copters. Two pilots will be on board for each flight while riders will watch a safety video before the journey.

Customers will only be allowed to carry one personal bag and one carry-on weighing no more than 40 pounds.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Nauto launches solution to eliminate distracted driving
    June 18, 2018
    Transportation company Nauto has launched its Prevent solution to help eliminate distracted driving by alerting motorists when their eyes have strayed off the road for too long. The company hopes to reduce accidents and collisions - before the large-scale arrival of autonomous vehicles. A report by TechCrunch says the device will send a voice notification if motorists are distracted for more than five seconds and are driving at 60mph. An alarm will follow if the user's attention has not returned to drivi
    Read More
  • Keolis Canada to acquire 12 e-buses from Lion Electric
    December 19, 2018
    Keolis Canada has ordered 12 electric Type C all-electric school buses from Lion Electric to transport hundreds of children in the Lanaudière region, Quebec. The fleet will operate alongside two other Type C e-buses which Keolis ordered in 2016. Overall, the service is expected to transport 700 school students as of 2019. A survey from Lion shows that public opinion is behind the move - more than 90% of the 907 respondents say they want schools and boards to promote the use of electric buses. Other fin
    Read More
  • Hurricane preparedness and crash reduction projects are among inaugural NOCoE award winners
    December 4, 2018
    A project to avert transport chaos in hurricane season and a programme which led to a huge reduction in road crashes were among the big winners in a new US awards scheme. The US National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE)’s inaugural Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Awards were open to cities, counties, metropolitan or rural planning organisations, state departments of transportation (DoTs) and private companies. Patrick Son, managing director of NOCoE, says 60 entries high
    Read More
  • ComfortDelGro to deploy MaaS Global app in Singapore
    October 10, 2018
    Transport company ComfortDelGro is trialling MaaS Global’s Whim app in Singapore. The Finnish mobility company secured a €9m funding round for the app in August to support its ambition in revolutionising the way people move. ComfortDelGro says the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app’s users will be able to access its fleet of taxis as well as transition from a train or a bus or choose to finish the trip on a bicycle. Kaj Pyyhtiä, MaaS Global co-founder, says the company will use the initiative to enter
    Read More

Highlighted Content