● Transforms a 2-hour drive into a 12-minute flight, 6 days a week; initial air ticket can be booked at cost of Rs 3250 plus taxes
● BLADE India is an urban air mobility company providing short-haul flights connecting destinations that see heavy congestion, accessibility challenges and aren’t connected by commercial flights
Bengaluru, NFAPost: Urban Air Mobility company BLADE India announced that it is launching helicopter flights between Bangalore International Airport and HAL, every weekday at 9 am and return at 4:15 pm.
HAL is very close to popular locations in the city such as Indiranagar and Koramangala, as well as IT parks. The launch of this intra-city service will allow fliers to skip the painful 2-hour commute by road to the city in traffic and opt for a quick 12-minute flight instead.
This route, between the Bengaluru airport and HAL will be operational from Monday, October 10th and is now open for bookings on the BLADE India website or through the Flier Relations team at 1800 102 5233.
Flights can be booked like any other air ticket at an initial cost of Rs 3250*. BLADE India is offering two flights on this route currently – at 9 a.m. from Bengaluru airport to HAL and an evening return flight on the same route at 4:15 pm. BLADE India will subsequently introduce more routes to Whitefield and Electronic City.
BLADE India works with partners like AIRBUS and Eve Air Mobility to deliver on its mission of reducing travel friction by enabling cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested or inaccessible ground routes. These partnerships prepare for an eventual equipment swap of conventional helicopters with the former and Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (“eVTOL”) aircrafts.
Under the partnership with Eve, BLADE India will get up to 200 eVTOLs by 2026. eVTOL aircrafts will have reduced noise and environmental footprints as well as lower operating costs. Over time, this gradual equipment swap will result in lower prices for fliers as well as more landing zone options in the future. The Bengaluru launch is a pilot project for Urban Air Mobility.
BLADE India Managing Director Amit Dutta said the company’s success lies in being able to democratize urban air mobility.
“While helicopter services are a premium product, with today’s launch we can offer an accessible entry point. Today’s launch is a significant milestone for us. It not only addresses the concerns mounting over congestion in Bengaluru city but paves the way for our future taxi service of eVTOL aircraft,” said BLADE India Managing Director Amit Dutta.
BLADE India started in November 2019, with its maiden flights in Maharashtra between Mumbai, Pune and Shirdi. Since, BLADE has expanded its scheduled by-the-seat helicopter flights to Karnataka (to Coorg, Hampi, and Kabini) and Goa; launched its bed-to-bed air medevac service BLADE Care and its personalized charter service, BLADE Anywhere.
About BLADE
BLADE is an urban air mobility company committed to reducing travel friction by enabling time-efficient air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested and inaccessible ground routes in India. BLADE India, a joint venture between BLADE Urban Air Mobility Inc. headquartered in New York and New Delhi based venture capital firm, Hunch Ventures, started operations in Maharashtra in 2019.
BLADE has partnered with Airbus and Eve Air Mobility to expand its short-haul air mobility services in India through fleet expansions and further explore and expand UAM in the country. Whether you’re traveling by helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft and in the future EVAs (Electric Vertical Aircrafts), Blade is the most time-efficient and convenient way to mitigate travel pain-points that have become a significant part of our daily lives.
