Bengaluru’s skyline is about to change drastically. A helicopter flight service between Bangalore International Airport and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport will be made available by urban air mobility startup Blade starting on Monday and running five days a week, Monday through Friday. The start date for the service is October 10. The IT hub of India, Bengaluru, is already among the most congested cities in the world.
According to the corporation, the intra-city service would allow commuters to save time because the flight will only take 12 minutes as opposed to the two hours it currently takes to travel to the city by road. HAL has been selected as the pickup place since it is close to several well-known areas of the city, including Indiranagar and Koramangala, as well as several IT parks. The initial fee, excluding taxes, to book the flights is Rs 3,250, much like any other airline ticket. Comparatively, a cab will cost you roughly Rs. 1,300 to travel from the international airport to HAL airport, and the trip could take up to two hours, depending on traffic.
The early morning flight from Bengaluru Airport to HAL will leave at 9 am, while the late afternoon flight home will leave at 4:15 pm.
Our ability to democratize urban air travel is what will determine our success. Amit Dutta, managing director of BLADE India, stated that although helicopter services are a premium offering, with today’s launch, we can now provide an accessible entry point.
More routes will be added, according to the business, once the services are launched. Whitefield and Electronic City could be potential new locations.
The global market for urban air mobility is anticipated to generate $30,740 million in sales and expand at a CAGR of 30.2% between 2022 and 2031, according to a report by Research Dive. The report has noted that the air taxis sub-segment is predicted to hold a leading market position and increase enormously throughout the analysis years, largely because of the rising demand for traveling to work and moving goods utilizing airplanes that can take off and land like electric vehicles. Volocopter GmbH, Bell Textron, Lilium Gmbh, Wisk Aero LLC, Archer Aviation, Workhorse Group Inc., Ehang, Joby Aviation, Kitty Hawk, and Airbus are a few notable major participants in this industry.