Bengaluru is set to launch a helicopter taxi service from its international airport to Electronics City, helping passengers save hours in commute and beat the city’s bumper-to-bumper traffic.

The service, to begin in three months with one helicopter by Thumby Aviation, will eventually expand to connect Whitefield, the HAL airport, and some of the 90-odd highrise buildings that have rooftop helipads, based on the demand from people.

Though the exact date is yet to be announced, Thumby Aviation, the company operating the helicopter taxis, told CNT that permissions are in place and two Bell 407 helicopters are ready to fly passengers from Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport to Electronic City, Phase 1 and to HAL Airport. This means that a journey that usually takes two hours by road will now take only 15 minutes.

A helipad will be set up in Electronic City to serve as the pick-up and drop point for passengers. The service, which was announced on Friday last week, is expected to begin in three months. Jayant Sinha, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, spoke at the launch event, expressing hope that the new service will lead the way for other cities to adopt the same.

A 55-km road journey from the airport to Electronics City, home to several technology firms such as Infosys, Wipro, and HP, takes over two hours by cab, costing around Rs 2,500, while the chopper journey would reduce it to 15 minutes.

Officials from Bangalore International Airport (BIAL), the airport operator, and Karnataka Industries Minister R V Deshpande expect the commute costs on a chopper for an individual would match air-conditioned cab rides.

While the schedule for the flights is flexible, the heli-taxi will operate in two shifts, for now. The flights are timed to peak business hours.

There will be an average of three round-trips between Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and Electronic City from 6.30am to 9.30am and another three round-trips from 3.00pm to 6.15pm. (Flights between Bangalore KIA and HAL Airport will start on 1 March.)

The four-blade, single-engine Bell 407 chopper to be used as a heli-taxi can seat up to six people.

The Centre’s open sky policy encourages using choppers in cities to fly below 5,000 feet without a flight plan.

Flightplan is a document that needs to be submitted to the local airport authority, indicating the route of an aircraft being planned to fly.

Sinha said he expected both SpiceJet and IndiGo to participate in the second round of Udaan, based on the orders they have placed for smaller aircraft such as ATR and Bombardier, to tap the growing opportunity to connect smaller routes.

How to book the Bangalore heli taxi

App - Heli-Taxi mobile app (Android /iOS)

The ‘Fly Now’ option is not available yet—we’re told the app will be fully ready by 23 February.

For now, you can select ‘Fly Later’, choose the flight you’re coming in on, and add your pick-up/drop details (Bangalore airport/Electronic City). Add luggage information, select the number of seats and complete the payment, through a link in your email.

The government has said that it plans to open up as many as 90 helipads across Bangalore, though only the one at ITC Royal Gardenia on Residency Road has been cleared by the DGCA so far.

Even so, the Bangalore helicopter taxi service finally taking off is good news, especially for bleary-eyed business travellers who routinely have to wake up at 3 am for their 7 am flights.

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