EvoLux Takes Flight with "Carpooling" for Helicopters
Stamford, Conn. (PRWEB) February 27, 2015 -- In the Hollywood blockbuster Back to the Future, Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled 30 years into the future, to the year 2015 when flying cars and hoverboards were part of the futuristic lifestyle. While flying cars are still just a dream, and hoverboards are in their infancy, vertical take-off and landing “time-machines,” also known as helicopters, are now more accessible than ever through an FAA compliant online reservation service by EvoLux Transportation (http://www.evo-lux.com/) based in Stamford, Conn.
Travelers have been able to charter their own helicopters for years, but never like this: now with just a few clicks they can compare a wide variety of helicopters in their area and view a number of “helicopter friendly” destinations.
The new EvoLux SkyShare program allows travelers to reserve online one or more seats and share the rest with friends or complete strangers, reducing the ticket price per seat by over 60 percent compared to chartering the entire aircraft on their own. If sharing isn’t their thing, they can request to reserve a helicopter for their sole use through the private EvoLux “SkyLimo” service.
Once travelers join the EvoLux service at no charge, they can customize a helicopter route and timing that fits their precise itinerary. There are departure and heliport destinations throughout the northeast which can replace a dreaded six-hour drive in traffic with a 1 hr. 20-min. scenic and exhilarating flight.
The service is available throughout Florida and the greater New York area, and is rolling out in southern California and Texas shortly. SkyShares have already been used for travel to the Hamptons, the Monticello Motor Club in the Catskills, and by members of the exclusive Hermitage Club in southern Vermont.
For instance, chartering a three-seat helicopter from Wings Air, based at Westchester County Airport, to Rutland, Vt., near the Killington and Pico Ski Areas, regularly costs approximately $3,045 each way. Now thanks to the new EvoLux platform and social reservation service, the cost goes down to approximately $1,040 per seat, a 65 percent savings.
Once a SkyShare is created online, EvoLux promotes the proposed crowd-sourced flight on their website and by email to their SkyShare members. The traveler can promote it to their contacts as well, using social media and email.
If enough people join the SkyShare to reach the seat-price goal, the flight is sent to the charter operator for confirmation and all the passengers share the cost equally.
Pricing is transparent so all travelers know the ticket price – based on total flight time, wait time, and related landing fees – prior to departure.
If not enough people join the SkyShare, the flight reservation remains grounded and there’s no cost to anyone.
EvoLux works with FAA Certified Part-135 helicopter charter operators, representing 70 aircraft ranging from three- to eight-seaters. Wings Air Helicopters, one of EvoLux’s New York-based preferred partners, has already completed several flying missions to Vermont and other destinations through the platform.
Wings Air is Wyvern-approved and offers charter flights in its AS350 and Robinson R44 helicopters. EvoLux partner operators can often secure permission to land at locations not currently serviced by helicopters, such as backyards, local parks or parking lots, pending approval by municipal authorities.
“We let travelers make their choices, where they want to go, where they want to depart from, which helicopter operator and aircraft type. Then we help clients locate seatmates who can reduce the expense,” said EvoLux Transportation founder and CEO Ray Leavitt, an aviation entrepreneur and former private flight coordinator.
“While EvoLux SkyLimo is available for travelers who want to charter their own aircraft for their sole use – just like a wheeled limo – we think SkyShare will resonate with many people who might be attracted to a less-costly, yet still customized transportation alternative,” Leavitt adds.
“It allows you to share the cost and share the skies.”
For more information: 855 4 EVOLUX (855 438 6589) x 2. Specific details about SkyShare can be found here: http://www.evo-lux.com/skyshares
For the latest EvoLux video see: http://goo.gl/JqBesN
Follow EvoLux on social media to see what the new SkyShare Heli-Lifestyle is all about:
Instagram.com/evoluxskyshare
https://www.facebook.com/evoluxtransportation
twitter.com/Evo_Lux
EvoLux is the winner of the 2013 Sikorsky Entrepreneurial Challenge Competition and is headquartered at Sikorsky Innovations Lab, Stamford Innovation Center, 175 Atlantic Street - Suite 209, Stamford, CT 06901
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Feb. 26, 2015
Jeff Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld and Assoc., Inc. PR, +1 203 655 1600, [email protected]
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