Advanced Air Mobility (eVTOL / Urban Air Mobility) Helicopter Passenger Experience

Blade raises $38M to scale “flying taxi” infrastructure as Fly Blade app streamlines high-end helicopter charters from New York

Blade is raising $38 million to build infrastructure for on-demand “flying taxi” services, positioning its Fly Blade app to book premium helicopter travel in three steps. The company is using helicopter charters to take the travel friction out of trips between New York and Long Island’s east end to the Hamptons.

Discovered 2026-04-30T18:26:49.528580-07:00 | 2026-04-30T18:26:49.528580-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Funding + app-enabled booking signal an attempt to commercialize point-to-point rotorcraft mobility before the eVTOL transition, building the operational and customer-journey foundation discussed in prior Blade coverage like its partnership work with Sheltair Aviation and Blade and ongoing market expansion.
By productizing the consumer experience for short, time-sensitive trips (NYC to the Hamptons), Blade’s model adds a benchmark for how “flying taxi” operators will differentiate on access, scheduling, and ease—an issue already foregrounded by Blade’s service rollouts such as its Los Angeles by-the-seat helicopter expansions.
Infrastructure-building ahead of electric vertical lift makes the rotorcraft-to-eVTOL runway more concrete, aligning with how OEMs and established rotorcraft suppliers are exploring next-gen vertical lift pathways with Blade—e.g., the Airbus Helicopters-Blade eVTOL enablement partnership.

Reported By

Financial Times Axios luxurydaily.com