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To beat Bangalore traffic, air taxi company to launch 12-minute helicopter ride in October

An urban air mobility company called BLADE India has announced it’s launching 2 helicopter flights between Bangalore International Airport and Hindustan Aeronautical Airport (HAL) in Bengaluru at an initial fare of Rs 3,250 exclusive of taxes. The 12-minute air taxi service starts October 10, 2022 and is expected to save fliers two hours.

TN Viral Desk

Updated Sep 29, 2022, 16:21 IST

BLADE set to launch 12-minute helicopter ride in Bengaluru staring October 10, 2022 | Image courtesy: BLADE India

Photo : Twitter

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Each of these flights will seat up to 5 passengers and operate from Monday through Friday.
BLADE India has signed an MoU to launch another 200 helicopters in the country by 2026.
Some of these flights are already operating at six locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

HAL to Kempegowda International Airport in 12 minutes

Bengaluru is the poster child of traffic congestion and navigating its roads from HAL to the Bangalore airport is a manoeuvre often reported to take up to 120 minutes besides costing at least Rs 1,300.

With two helicopter rides — starting at 9 am and returning at 4:15 — BLADE seeks to bring this travel time down to 12 minutes.

HAL is in proximity to Bengaluru’s downtown, which includes popular commercial locations such as Indiranagar, Koramangala and of course, the IT parks.

These single-engine flights that can seat 5 passengers each, will operate every weekday.

Is air taxi the masses’ answer to Bangalore traffic?

To most of us, these easily-bookable helicopter flights may only be viable for emergency use but the operator said it aims to make air mobility accessible to some degree.

“Our success lies in being able to democratise urban air mobility. While helicopter services are a premium product, with today’s launch we can offer an accessible entry point,” BLADE India’s managing director Amit Dutta said.

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads

The short-distance aviation company has struck a deal with Embrear’s Eve Air Mobility to bring over 200 air taxis to India by 2026.

Does air taxi presently exist in India?

Very much so. In 2019, BLADE launched its first ever flights between Mumbai, Pune and Shirdi and later expanded operations to include Coorg, Hampi and Kabini.

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