Ride-hailing services broke new ground in Mexico five years ago, but that was for ground transportation. Now, travelers can hail a helicopter.

The on-demand helicopter booking platform called Voom launched its services yesterday in Mexico City, operating five aircraft from several locations including Montes Urales, Interlomas and the Mexico City and Toluca airports.

A subsidiary of Airbus Helicopters, Voom said in a press release that Mexico City has substantial helicopter infrastructure already in place, with more than 200 helipads in the metropolitan area. It also has dedicated air traffic control for helicopters, allowing for more efficient air transportation.

Most trips within the city are about 10 minutes long, the company said.

A flight from Montes Urales to the city’s international airport, a route that Voom expects to be one of the most popular, takes eight minutes and costs 2,500 pesos (US $134). It said the trip would typically take two hours by road during rush hour.

Bookings can be made up to seven days or just 60 minutes before a flight, and passengers must be at the helipad 15 minutes before boarding time.

“Airbus is interested in urban airborne mobility,” said Voom CEO Uma Subramanian. “We saw that [Mexico City] was a large city where traffic is a problem but one that also has the infrastructure to develop helicopter use.”

The ride-hailing service Cabify announced in 2015 that it would operate a helicopter service called CabiFLY, but it no longer appears to be operating.

Source: El Economista (sp)