Uber offers helicopter taxi service

It was supposed to be a short-term experiment, but it may also be Uber’s next step in large business cities around the world. The taxi-hailing app has successfully operated a temporary helicopter service in Cannes.

The ‘UberCopter’ service from Nice airport to the Cannes Croisette was an attempt to beat fierce competition ferrying stars to and from the Cannes Film Festival. The heli-service was meant to avoid nightmare traffic between the airport and downtown Cannes.

The cost for the service was €160 per person for a seven-minute flight, for a maximum of four people. The service included a chauffeured car ride to the heliport and another ride from the destination helipad to the centre of Cannes. The cost was about twice the normal taxi trip fare, but it cut the duration of the trip by 75%.

Many stars, producers and other glitterati attending Cannes enjoyed the service, for which Uber had teamed up with two local helicopter firms, with seven helicopters on call. Last year Uber offered a chopper service to California's Coachella film festival, with up to five passengers sharing the price of $3,000 per helicopter.