Uber is giving riders the option to skip the traffic jam and hail a helicopter to the airport instead, provided they can shell out the money.

The ride-hailing company expanded its helicopter service Oct. 3 between lower Manhattan in New York City and John F. Kennedy International Airport, making it available to all Uber riders with iPhones instead of just those in the top tiers of its rewards program. Uber hopes to deploy it to Android users soon.

Uber’s helicopter ride will cost US$200-225 one-way per person on average, but the price fluctuates depending on demand. Private helicopter flights, where customers charter an entire vehicle, typically cost thousands of dollars to fly to New York-area airports.

The move comes as helicopter use is growing in the region, with takeoffs and landings at New York City’s three major airports increasing 51 percent from 2015 to 2018, according to data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Some helicopter companies are moving away from the exclusivity of chartered rides, selling by the seat instead of the entire helicopter, for what is essentially ride-sharing in the sky.

Blade Urban Air Mobility, which offers shared helicopter flights from Manhattan to airports, the Hamptons and Nantucket, among other destinations, charges US$195 to the airports each way. Its riders can book shared helicopter flights through a smartphone app less than an hour before takeoff. Voom, owned by plane maker Airbus, launched shared helicopter flights in San Francisco recently.

While Uber helicopters are far more expensive than public transit, and twice as much as some car services that can cost US$100 or more during rush hour, the flight time between lower Manhattan and JFK is hard to beat: eight minutes. Uber cars will also pick up passengers on either end of the trip.

“We think that there are definitely customers for whom there’s a high value on time,” said Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate.

Uber’s helicopters are owned and operated by a company called HeliFlite. The service is available weekdays from about 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【支付】zhīfù shell out pay money for something, especially when the cost is unexpected and not wanted

【包租】bāozū charter hire (a bus or airplane, for example) for the exclusive, temporary use of a group of travelers

优步用户将有机会避开交通堵塞，乘网约直升机前往机场，只要他们能付得起钱。

10月3日主营预约叫车服务的优步公司把从纽约市下曼哈顿区到肯尼迪机场的直升机服务推广到面向所有苹果手机用户，此前该项服务只提供给积分最高的优步用户。优步希望该服务不久后也能覆盖到安卓手机用户。

优步的直升机服务平均价格为单程每人200到225美元，但是价格会根据需求而波动。

私人包机飞到纽约地区的机场通常要花费数千美元。

纽约和新泽西港务局的数据显示，当前直升机使用在该地区日益增多，直升机在纽约市三大机场的起飞和着陆次数从2015年到2018年上升了51%。

一些直升机公司也正在抛弃包机的单一模式，转为按座位售票，在空中实现“拼机”。

美国短途航空公司Blade Urban Air Mobility提供从曼哈顿到机场、汉普顿斯和楠塔基特岛等路段的直升机共享服务，从各个路线到机场收费195美元。用户可以在起飞前一个小时内通过智能手机应用来预约“拼机”。飞机制造商空客旗下的Voom公司最近也在旧金山推出了共享直升机服务。

优步直升机比公共交通要昂贵得多。一些打车服务在上下班高峰期可能花费100美元甚至更多，优步直升机的价格则是其两倍。但乘坐直升机从下曼哈顿区到肯尼迪机场的飞行时间是难以超越的：8分钟。在飞行前后一端优步网约车还将提供接送服务。

优步空中出租车的总裁埃里克●艾利森说：“我们认为网约直升机服务一定能吸引那些时间宝贵的客户。”

优步使用的直升机归HeliFlite公司所有和运营。该服务在工作日的下午1点至6点开放。

(chinadaily.com.cn)