If you think Uber, the famous transportation startup, is just offering car rides then you should know that, well, you’re wrong. The tech startup has always considered providing innovative solutions, and its helicopter service – usually called UberCopter or UberCHOPPER – is one of the less-known ones.
Uber copter services are mainly offered as promotions, and often at major events, in different cities all over the world. Here we take a look at some of the past, current and future chopper rides provided by the San Francisco based company behind the popular transportation app.
NYC, 4th of July Holiday
This was one of the earliest experiences of Uber with flight services, which was available in 2013 and included a $3,000 ride from New York City to the Hamptons and back in helicopter, plus a regular Uber car service to helipad. The flight took about 40 minutes. Users could request for the service from their Uber apps on their iPhone or Android smartphones.
Cannes Film Festival
For the first time in May 2015, UberCHOPPER service entered France, offering a helicopter flight for the distance between Nice airport and Cannes Festival. The ride which usually takes up to one hour by car, could be reduced to a seven minute sky experience – priced at 160€ per person – offered by Uber partnered with Helipass, a French copter company. Each year over 200,000 people attends this major movie and film industry event.
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
In June 2015, Uber offered a service to take people from Nashville to Manchester, where the Bonnaroo festival was held, in helicopters. This UberCHOPPER service was made available in cooperation with Helistar Aviation firm with a price tag of $1,500, which in addition to the copter ride, included the car rides to the helipad and back to the Nashville. Users could also split the fare price.
Free rides in Thailand
Last Sunday, if you were lucky and in Bangkok at the same time, you might have been among other customers who experienced a Bangkok tour in helicopter, provided by Uber. Users could request to use the UberCopter service through their cell phones/tablets and Uber app, and in case it was accepted, the user along with their buddy would be taken in a Mercedes-Benz car ride to the helipad where they could start their sky tour of the city.
Everyday people in Bangkok experience one of the heaviest traffics in the world, and on the other hand, Uber taxi service sees one of its fastest growing markets in Thailand. These are the main reasons why Uber chose this city to bring its trial new service to Southeast Asia.
In addition to the mentioned events and cities, several other places around the world have seen the innovative campaign including Los Angeles, Dallas, Cape Town, Lisbon, Bangalore, Melbourne, Shanghai, New Delhi and Rio de Janeiro.
