Airbus Group (AIRBUS-GROUP-N-V) has partnered with Uber (UBER) to offer an on-demand helicopter service.
The European airplane manufacturer will be providing Uber with Airbus H125 and H130 helicopters. The new collaboration is being tested at the Sundance Film Festival this week in Utah, according to the Wall Street Journal. “It’s a pilot project,” Airbus chief executive Tom Enders told the publication in an interview, “We’ll see where it goes—but it’s pretty exciting.”
Uber has been expanding to incorporate forms of transportation aside from its regular car service, including rickshaws and boats in some countries, and this won’t be the first time the company experiments with helicopters.
UberChopper, as the new on-demand service is being called, was first tested three years ago in New York, flying customers between Manhattan and the Hamptons. It tested again this past summer at the Cannes Film Festival and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Though Enders didn’t divulge any financial details, the rides have previously cost between hundred of dollars and thousands of dollars.
