People who use Uber and live near New York City or in Southern Europe will soon have a new and fun way to get around. Uber wants to add helicopter services to its ride-sharing platform as soon as 2026. This means that people will be able to book helicopter flights through the Uber app, which will make flying in cities easier than ever.
Uber and Joby Aviation, a company that makes electric air taxis, worked together to make this happen. Joby recently bought Blade Air Mobility, a company that is known for its passenger services on helicopters and seaplanes.
The deal was worth up to $125 million. The passenger side of Blade’s business will now be part of Uber’s platform, but the company’s medical division, which specializes in moving live organs, will stay separate.
Blade’s helicopters have been on Uber before, but only in a few small ads. Now that Blade is fully part of Joby and they are working with Uber, helicopter services will be easier to get.
Joby bought Uber’s Elevate air taxi division in 2020. This helped Joby get ahead in the race to make electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) planes. Joby went public in 2021 with a lot of support from big investors like Toyota. Since then, the company has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to grow its innovative air taxi business. Joby is now owned by Uber, which has about 2.5% of it.
Blade’s helicopters will probably fly to popular places, like the ones that connect downtown areas with major airports like Newark International Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport near New York City.
These flights have already been popular; in 2024, Blade flew more than 50,000 people to New York and Southern Europe. Prices for helicopter rides vary. A single seat to an airport costs about $195, while a whole helicopter charter for a group can cost up to $2,000.
Uber President and COO Andrew Macdonald expressed excitement about this partnership, highlighting Uber’s belief in the power of advanced air mobility to provide safe, quiet, and sustainable transportation in cities worldwide. This step will allow Uber to offer customers a futuristic travel option that bypasses road traffic and cuts down on travel time.
This partnership also paves the way for Joby’s quiet, zero-emission electric planes to hit the market in the coming years. Even though aviation authorities haven’t approved those electric air taxis yet and they aren’t available right away, adding Blade’s regular helicopters to Uber’s app is a big step in the right direction.
Uber has wanted to offer air travel options for a long time, and this new integration is a big step toward that goal. Soon, people will be able to use their phones to call not only cars but also helicopters and seaplanes. This big step forward shows how Uber keeps changing how people get around cities by giving them new options that combine speed and convenience in new ways.
