In July, Uber will launch a helicopter service to shuttle people between New York City’s JFK airport and downtown Manhattan.
The service, “Uber Copter,” is expected to at least halve the amount of time it takes to travel from the southern point of Manhattan to the Queens-based airport for premium customers, according to The New York Times. But the service is going to be — unsurprisingly — beyond the budgets of people who wouldn’t already consider traveling the 13-mile journey.
Each helicopter will be able to carry five passengers, who must be Platinum and Diamond members of the company’s reward card, and their carry-on luggage. Like the ride-hailing service, each flight will be dynamically priced. Company representatives told the NYT reports that each passenger will pay between $200 and $225.
“Our plan is to eventually roll out Uber Copter to more Uber customers and to other cities, but we want to do it right,” spokesperson Eric Allison told the NYT. “The main goal of this initial venture is to understand the operations behind aerial vehicles.”
UBER IS LAUNCHING AN ON-DEMAND HELICOPTER SERVICE [Futurism]