BLADE, a US based Urban Air Mobility, in December 2018 formed a joint venture with equity investment firm Hunch Ventures to launch its services in India called FlyBlade. BLADE India started its operations in Mumbai, offering alternative travel solutions for leisure, business and religious travellers on routes like Mumbai to Shirdi, Mumbai to Pune and now Mumbai to Aambey Valley, Lonavala. To understand the model of BLADE, we got in touch with Karanpal Singh, Founder of Hunch Ventures and FlyBlade who gave us insights on the current Urban Air Mobility market of India and the future. Here’s our interview:
Recently, European aviation major Airbus signed an initial pact with FlyBlade India, to help develop the on-demand helicopter services market in South Asia. Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), Airbus and BLADE will collaborate to create awareness about on-demand helicopter services, among helicopter operators, customers and other stakeholders in the region.
"BLADE recognises Airbus as an industry leader in aviation and is looking to leverage its global knowledge and networks in creating a sustainable urban air mobility ecosystem," said Karanpal Singh, founder of Hunch Ventures.
Besides, the two partners will also work together to identify ways to increase BLADE’s fleet size in South Asia. One of the ways to do so will be by supporting BLADE to gain access to the Airbus fleet of helicopters available with its operators in the region, it said.
“Airbus believes in the region’s potential as a top helicopter market in the world. “To this end, we are pleased to support BLADE India’s aim of expanding their on-demand helicopter mobility services to more people at more places in South Asia and pave the way for the introduction of new technologies and services," Airbus India & South Asia President and Managing Director Rmi Maillard said.
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