To the airport in 5 minutes: a helicopter taxi appeared in New York

Blade Airlines, which specializes in short-haul helicopter flights, offers "taxi" helicopter service between Manhattan and JFK Airport. A one-way flight will cost $195 per seat. Travel time will take five minutes.

Фото: Depositphotos

In the new "taxi" you can fly over the most hopeless traffic jams in the city at a speed of 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), writes New York Post. Helicopters will transport passengers on weekdays from 7 to 19 hours between the Hudson Yards area and John F. Kennedy Airport, the company said.

Customers can reserve places in the Blade app or stroll to the heliport at West 30th Street on 12 Avenue, where a company representative can help you reserve a place for the right time.

According to Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal, "Although there is no schedule, flights will be frequent enough to satisfy even the most impatient travelers."

“If you arrive at the station, you will have to wait anywhere from 0 to 20 minutes,” Wiesenthal said.

Attempts to organize such a service have been made before. For example, in January 2015, the crowdsourcing service Gotham Air was launched - one trip from Manhattan to JFK cost $99. But already in May 2016, the service stopped working.

Until March 25, Blade only offered a charter delivery service to JFK, which required booking an entire six-seat helicopter for $1500. Clients had to figure out on their own how to divide this cost among everyone. This service from Blade is available now, in parallel with the “taxi”. The company's competitors, New York Helicopter and Associated Aircraft Group, also offer charter flights to the airport, and their flights are even more expensive, and they recommend booking a helicopter at least a day in advance.

Taxi service Blade is starting out using Bell 206L-4 helicopters, but plans to gradually replace them with large, electric-powered passenger drones called eVTOLs—electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.

Within five years, Blade's taxi service is expected to provide not only a quieter, greener operation, but also a cheaper service, Wiesenthal said. “We plan to lower the price one way to $70 or $90,” he told The Post.

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