GrabTaxi, Southeast Asia’s largest land transport brand, on Tuesday teamed up with PhilJets Group to offer an air taxi service before the end of the year in a bid to provide an alternative solution to the heavy traffic in Metro Manila.
“GrabTaxi has been in the Philippines for a few years now and we’re launching GrabHeli as a way to thank the passengers who have always supported us and stood as witnesses to our growth. It has always been our goal to transform the way Filipinos travel and aviation is not an exception,” GrabTaxi Philippines marketing country head Khriztina Lim said.
GrabHeli, which is in its beta stage, will be tested for three months.
For P3,888 per person, anyone registered with GrabPay can fly around Manila in an aerial tour of Makati, Bonifacio Global City and Pasay.
Lim said booking a helicopter ride used to cost P96,000 for an hour.
“But through our partnership with PhilJets, we’ve made it possible to just buy a minimum of one seat on a helicopter and you’re good to go. With GrabHeli,riding a helicopter will not be as far-fetched as it used to be. It is now luxury within reach,” Lim said.
Pre-booking a GrabHeli will be available weekly from Saturdays to Wednesdays through the GrabTaxi app with fixed flight schedules during Fridays and Saturdays at 4pm.
Lim expects to roll out the air taxi commercially next month.
“We hope to offer the same fare or even better,” she said, adding the company has four helipads in Ortigas, Makati, Bonifacio Global City and Pasay.
“We are very happy to partner with GrabTaxi Philippines. In the two years they’ve been in the country, they’ve proven that they’re a formidable company to be associated with and this partnership promises a ride to remember,” PhilJets Group chief executive Thierry Tea said.
“As we are launching this new booking platform through the app, our solutions is likely to improve within the next months, and we foresee multiple different type of requests from the users. We are eager to listen to the feedbacks and work with our clients to always move towards enhancing customer satisfaction,” Tea added.
Tea said PhilJets and GrabTaxi aimed to provide an alternate solution to customers who want to avoid and escape the heavy traffic ad congestion in Manila.
PhilJets operates helicopter tours to and around different destinations in the Philippines, including Tagaytay and Taal Lake, Mount Pinatubo, Palawan, Boracay, Corregidor, Manila Bay, Banaue and Sagada, as well as Bohol and Davao.
PhilJets flew around 22 hours a month, and transported over 1,500 passengers. Its fleet include new Airbus Helicopters AS350B2 and H130. The company plans to add one more brand new H130 Helicopters by February next year.