translated from Spanish: Uber Copter saves manhattan traffic for $200

The next time you’re stuck in traffic on the way to John F. Kennedy International Airport, you can honestly say, “Maybe we should have taken the helicopter.”
Uber Technologies Inc. now offers its Uber Copter service in New York to all Uber users, the company announced Thursday. Previously, only members of Uber’s top two tiers, Platinum and Diamond, could use the service, which began on July 9.
Regular Uber users have a four-hour interval, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., to book an Uber helicopter during peak business hours. A one-way trip costs between $200 and $225 per person.
Users can book flights directly through the Uber app. Photographer: Michael Noble Jr./Bloomberg”The short-term approach is to open this to all passengers, to demonstrate this vision of a perfect connection between cars and helicopters,” says Eric Allison, director of Uber Elevate, the flight business of the Company.
Through the app, customers can schedule a trip up to five days in advance, until the space is full. As with Uber’s car rides, prices will fluctuate based on demand. Two helicopters will be used, for now, to make the journeys.
The trip has three parts. First, an Uber car picks up the passengers and takes them to the helipad in lower Manhattan. “If you live on the Upper West Side, take a trip to lower Manhattan and then a flight [by helicopter] to JFK might not make much sense,” said Anil Nathan, Uber’s general manager of aviation.
The flight itself takes about eight minutes, followed by an Uber car ride from the helipad near Terminal 8 at JFK to a passenger’s designated terminal. Trips can be booked through an application in the Uber app, instead of three separate, although customers will receive an email bill for each stage.
Uber is using Twin-engine Bell 430 helicopters operated by Newark-based HeliFlite and has two pilots on each flight. There are six leather passenger attendings, for up to eight people on board. They have Rolls-Royce 250-C40B turbo axle engines, capable of reaching speeds of up to 260 kmph, and cost around US$6.2 million each.
The experience is not much different from a normal plane ride, except that it is much closer to the ground and close enough to recognize the buildings and neighborhoods you fly over. The three-step trip can take as little as 30 minutes, while the same drive from Manhattan can take an hour or more, depending on traffic. Public transport usually takes between 50 and 75 minutes.

Original source in Spanish