Singapore-headquartered Grab celebrated turned five this June, and as a part of the celebration, the company tested helicopter taxi rides in Jakarta.
The company presented exclusive GrabHeli rides for its top users and driver partners on 10 – 11 June at Lippo Mall Kemang. Each helicopter was equipped to carry four passengers with each ride lasting for about twenty minutes.
A Grab Indonesia representative had told AFP that they are conducting a feasibility study to see whether the company can go ahead with the commercial launch of GrabHeli in the city. Jakarta is known for its high traffic congestion that constantly hinders smooth commutation within the city.
GrabHeli is specially designed to provide a quality and high-end transportation service at an affordable price. The service wants the citizens to be free of the daily trouble and is specifically aimed at serving business executives who can’t afford to be stuck in traffic jams. Ridzki Kramadibrata, Managing Director of Grab Indonesia, in a statement, had commented,
We understand our customers need different transport services at different times and we are committed to providing them with the most accessible and affordable options. Our commitment drives us to always think out of the box and enables us to provide a multi-services platform like we are today. Thus, we are more than excited to soon introduce our latest solution beyond land transport services.
Grab competes with San Francisco-headquartered Uber and Indonesia-based Go-Jek in Southeast Asia. Back in 2015, Uber had already tested its helicopter service, UberChopper, in Jakarta, however, it hasn’t revealed its plans regarding the commercial rollout of the service. It can’t really be concluded if the helicopter taxi rides would be popular enough to attract users to avail the service. However, this could certainly give Grab a reason to have an upper hand over the other service providers.
