Uber to offer air cabs in New York, looking at India too
Clara Lewis | TNN | Updated: Jun 13, 2019, 11:11 ISTHighlights
- Uber, popular for cab services in metro cities in India, will be offering Uber Copter services for $200-225 in New York
- The service aims to reduce travel time to 30 minutes from the usual two hours it takes to cover this distance
(Representative image)WASHINGTON: Looking for a new experience? Come July, Indians travelling to New York can opt for an air cab service from the John F Kennedy airport to Lower Manhattan. Uber, popular for cab services in metro cities in India, will be offering Uber Copter services for $200-225 in New York. The service aims to reduce travel time to 30 minutes from the usual two hours it takes to cover this distance.
The copter will ferry four passengers and one carry bag per person. Around 65.2 million tourists visited New York in 2018. New Jersey, which is part of the New York Metropolitan area, has a significant Indian population.
The Uber app allows a passenger to choose the sky port from where she/he is to be ferried over the congested areas of New York — either to the airport or to Lower Manhattan. The passenger arrives at the sky port in a Uber cab and is then ferried to the chosen destination. Further, the passenger will be provided doorstep services by Uber cabs.
While India is among the five countries being considered by Uber to launch the air service, it is still under evaluation. Last year, Uber Elevate head Eric Allison met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss air cab services in metro cities in India.
At the Uber Elevate Summit in Washington, it was announced that India — along with Australia, Brazil, France and Japan — are under evaluation for the service. The criteria include market factors, environment conditions, policy & regulations, and infrastructure.
At the summit, Melbourne was declared as the first international city where the air service will be launched in 2020.
(The author is attending the Uber Elevate Summit 2019 in Washington at the invitation of Uber)
The copter will ferry four passengers and one carry bag per person. Around 65.2 million tourists visited New York in 2018. New Jersey, which is part of the New York Metropolitan area, has a significant Indian population.
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The Uber app allows a passenger to choose the sky port from where she/he is to be ferried over the congested areas of New York — either to the airport or to Lower Manhattan. The passenger arrives at the sky port in a Uber cab and is then ferried to the chosen destination. Further, the passenger will be provided doorstep services by Uber cabs.
While India is among the five countries being considered by Uber to launch the air service, it is still under evaluation. Last year, Uber Elevate head Eric Allison met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss air cab services in metro cities in India.
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At the Uber Elevate Summit in Washington, it was announced that India — along with Australia, Brazil, France and Japan — are under evaluation for the service. The criteria include market factors, environment conditions, policy & regulations, and infrastructure.
At the summit, Melbourne was declared as the first international city where the air service will be launched in 2020.
(The author is attending the Uber Elevate Summit 2019 in Washington at the invitation of Uber)
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