BLADE India expands its intra-city helicopter services in Bengaluru 

FlyBlade India (“BLADE India”), a joint venture between Hunch Ventures and BLADE Air Mobility, Inc. will be connecting Bangalore International Airport to Hosur Aerodrome as part of its expansion plan for its intra-city helicopter services. The on-demand service will be available every weekday at INR 6000* per person. Onward journey from the airport shall start in the morning hours whereas the return flights will be in the evening.  With the introduction of this route, BLADE India aims to simplify commuting between North and South Bangalore. 

Hosur to the airport typically takes travelers up to 3 hours on the road which BLADE will be covering in under 20 minutes. This adds more efficiency and convenience into people’s lives as they don’t have to spend over 4 hours just in travel + formalities at the airport before the actual take-off.  This route will be operational from 13th February and is open for bookings on the BLADE India website or through the Flier Relations team at 1800 102 5233. Flights can be booked like any other air ticket at an initial cost of INR 6000* per person. BLADE has also increased its daily flights between the BLADE helipad near the airport to the city center with three flights a day from 8:45am to 10:30am and return journeys between 3:45pm to 5pm.

In the coming months, more landing points will be added within the city, with Electronic City and Whitefield in the pipeline. Commenting on the launch of Hosur Aerodrome, Amit Dutta, managing director, BLADE India said, “ Hosur is a bustling hub of IT and manufacturing companies  and MNCs. With many corporate travelers and locals alike having to travel domestically and internationally for work, spending up to 3 hours on the road on a short business trip can be an inconvenience and unproductive.  The option now is between spending around 3 hours on the road or a quick 20 minute flight and corporate travelers are opting for efficiency over costs. Our goal is to make Bengaluru well connected through the skies with various landing points within the city in the coming months. ” 

BLADE India works with partners like  AIRBUS and Eve Air Mobility to deliver on its mission of reducing travel friction by enabling cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested or inaccessible ground routes. These partnerships prepare for an eventual equipment swap of conventional helicopters with the former and Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (“eVTOL”) aircrafts. Under the partnership with Eve, that BLADE India signed earlier this year, the country will get up to 200 eVTOLs by 2026. eVTOL aircrafts will have reduced noise and environmental footprints as well as lower operating costs. Over time, this gradual equipment swap will result in lower prices for fliers as well as more landing zone options in the future. The Bengaluru launch in October 2022, was a pilot project for Urban Air Mobility. 

BLADE India started in November 2019, with its maiden flights in Maharashtra between Mumbai, Pune and Shirdi. Since, BLADE has expanded its scheduled by-the-seat helicopter flights to Karnataka (to Coorg, Hampi, and Kabini) and Goa; launched its bed-to-bed air medevac service BLADE Care and its personalized charter service, BLADE Anywhere.