City wary of steep fare, inflexible rides of heli taxis

A 12-minute helicopter shuttle to the airport starts next week and another in November

The announcement of a new helicopter taxi service to the Bengaluru airport has created a lot of buzz on social media but offline, people are unsure of its viability.

Urban mobility company Blade India is launching its intra-city heli taxi service in Bengaluru from October 10, beginning with a 12-minute airport shuttle.

It will operate a five-seater flight between Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and Hindustan Aeronautical Airport two times a day on weekdays.

The ride will cost Rs 3,250 (exclusive of taxes) per flier one way, and it will include pick-up and drop between the airport and their heliport.

Another company, Thumby Aviation, has plans to resume its heli taxi rides to the airport from early November, Metrolife has learnt. “We started operating in Bengaluru in 2018 but stopped when the Covid-19 crisis hit. We wanted to recommence last year but did not because the travel was quite less,” said its CEO Govind Nair.

City speaks

The cry for alternative transport to the Bengaluru airport has grown louder in recent years because of traffic snarls and high fees levied by cabs, both worsening during the rains. Still, the adoption of heli taxis is a long road ahead, say aviation enthusiasts like Pranav Kashyap.

The J P Nagar resident explains, “It’s exciting that more companies are starting heli taxis but by the time they scale up, the airport will have metro connectivity and that will impact their business significantly.” Right now, he feels, people would book the heli taxi for “experience” or “in emergency situations”.

Some like Ashika Khanna are conflicted about the price point. An audit assistant from Wilson Garden, she says, “Heli taxis are quite expensive as compared to ground taxis, so I may use it once.” Shloka K, a design student from Konankunte, finds the price point fair but has no complaints about a long road commute
as she can “use that time productively to work”.

Speaking anonymously, the vice president of an ed-tech company, says the heli taxi will appeal to business travellers. “But the heli taxi operates at a particular time and is not available on demand, so questions on the flexibility need to be answered,” he adds.

But Amit Dutta, managing director, Blade India, is confident of the future of heli taxis. “There is a large segment of travellers who value time over cost. They can take a flight in the morning, finish their work and get back to the city in the evening flight. Not only do they beat traffic congestion but they also don’t have to spend money on hotels to stay over,” he says.

Helipad talk

Blade India’s heliport has been constructed one nautical mile away from the airport to prevent interference with other flights, informs Dutta.

But Thumby had run into operational issues. “We had taken a helipad on lease next to the airport from KIA but when the second runway came in, it became difficult to operate from that helipad,” Nair shared another reason why they had to halt their heli taxi service.

And within the city, many helipads remain out of use. “There are more than 90 rooftop helipads in Bengaluru but the Indian regulators have put restrictions in place with respect to their operation. If all helipads are activated, it would make intra-city heli services more viable,” Nair added.