The two-hour drive between the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport in Bengaluru may soon reduce to a 12-minute helicopter flight. BLADE India, an urban air mobility company, has announced that it is set to launch helicopter flights between KIA and HAL, which is more easily accessible to places such as Indiranagar and Koramangala, as well as IT parks.
The helicopter service shall be availed every weekday tentatively between 9.30 am and 10.30 am and between 4pm and 5 pm, starting from Monday, October 10. This intra-city helicopter service gives an option to skip two-hour commute via roads and choose a 12-minute flight instead. Bookings can be made through the BLADE website, and each helicopter flight will have an initial cost of Rs 3,250 excluding taxes, BLADE said in a press release.
As of now, BLADE India is offering two flights on this route — at 9 am from Bengaluru airport to HAL and an evening return flight on the same route at 4.15 pm. BLADE India has announced that more routes into Whitefield and Electronic City will be introduced subsequently. Further, the company also says that working with AIRBUS and Eve Air Mobility, they would swap conventional helicopters with Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (“eVTOL”) aircrafts. Under the partnership with Eve, BLADE India will get up to 200 eVTOLs by 2026, the company said in its press release.
“Our 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 Amit Dutta, Managing Director, BLADE India.
The urban air mobility company started in November 2019, with its maiden flights operating in Maharashtra between Mumbai, Pune and Shirdi. Since then, the company 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.