The long wait of Bangalore’s much-awaited heli taxi service is over. It is all set to take off next week but the exact date is yet to be announced. Two Bell 407 helicopters are ready to fly passengers from Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport to Electronic City, Phase 1 and HAL Airport. It will reduce the journey time to 15 minutes from 2 hours!
The permissions are in place as told by Thumby Aviation, the company operating the helicopter taxis. The heli taxi which is a four-blade, single-engine Bell 407 chopper can seat up to 6 people.
Timings and Price
The heli taxi will work in two shifts as of now, timed at peak business hours. On an average, three round-trips will be there from Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport(KIA) and Electronic City from 6:30 am to 9:30 am and another three from 3:00 pm to 6:15 pm. They are expected to start on 1st March.
One seat would cost you Rs. 4,130 (Rs. 3,500 + GST) in the heli taxi. This includes the drive from the Bangalore Airport terminal to the helipad premises. You can carry luggage up to 15 kg in this ticket price. Extra charges would apply for anything over this which will be shipped over ground.
You can book your ride through the Heli Taxii mobile app which is available both on Android and iOS. The app will be fully ready by 23rd February. You can choose ‘Fly Later’ option as of now because the ‘Fly Now’ option is still not available. Choose the flight you’re coming in on and add your pick-up/drop details, luggage info. Select the number of seats and complete the payment, through a link in your e-mail.
More Flights Soon
According to Thumby Aviation, more flights would be coming soon to several destinations. Next they are planning to have helicopter flights between HAL Airbase and Whitefield. The Bangalore heli taxi project will cut the traffic time from the airport to the city, and later within the city as well. The government has plans to open up to as many as 90 helipads across Bangalore.
But as of now, this is a really good news for people of Bangalore who have to leave 4-5 hours early for their flights. If you want to know more about what’s happening in the world, Click here to know the disgusting reason of why a woman was thrown off from Dubai Emirates.