Uber offers helicopter rides in Brazil

Sao Paulo: Prominent taxi service app Uber will now be offering helicopter’s rides in Brazil’s Sao Paulo to avoid the hectic traffic. The service, which is named UberCopter, is currently on a trial run for a month. Brazil’s biggest city became the first in the world where Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] offers on-demand chopper rides between airports, hotels and convention centers.

Promotional prices through Thursday start at 66 reais ($19) per seat for a lift from Helicentro Morumbi, in one of Sao Paulo’s richest neighborhoods, to the Blue Tree hotel across the river. The distance is nearly four miles (6 km), as the chopper flies. Uber media representatives declined to say how much prices would rise after Thursday or how many helicopters would be made available by the three companies operating the flights. Uber aims to get as much as five times the flight time out of each helicopter compared to standard use, according to a spokeswoman.