Next For Ridesharing: Helicopters

Uber’s range of options continues to expand, from UberX to UberBLACK … and, now, UberChopper.

The world’s biggest ridesharing company is testing out a strategy to offer an airborne option to a wider number of users, having teamed up with Airbus Group SE to facilitate on-demand flights in the latter company’s H125 and H130 helicopters.

The Wall Street Journal shares that Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders announced at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich on Sunday (Jan. 17) that the Uber collaboration will be tested at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which begins tomorrow (Jan. 21).

“It’s a pilot project; we’ll see where it goes — but it’s pretty exciting,” Enders commented to the outlet.

As WSJ points out, the Sundance appearance will actually not be the debut of UberChopper, as Uber previously tested the service between Manhattan and the Hamptons in 2013; more recently, UberChopper was offered at special events, like the Cannes Film Festival in May and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in June.

While Airbus did not state what the pricing structure will be for Uber helicopter rides during Sundance, WSJ notes that the aforementioned implementations of UberChopper cost passengers between several hundred and several thousands of dollars per ride.

Uber did not comment in WSJ story, but Airbus did share with the outlet that users of the UberChopper service in Park City — rather than summoning a helicopter to their exact pickup location — will first be transported to the chopper the old-fashioned way: in an Uber car.