India launched its helicopter taxi service on Monday, promising to ferry customers the 40 miles between Bangalore’s Electronic City tech hub and the International Airport terminal in 15 minutes. Customers can book their helicopter ride through a mobile app. The service, which claims to be the first of its kind in India, offers only one route, but Bangalore airport will add more once it gets approval. Helicopter taxi is not an affordable option for many travelers. A car ride for the same journey costs less than half as much. But Bangalore airport says it is a competitive alternative to a car ride for tech executives in a hurry. “A large number of high-class travelers, including CEOs, have to spend more than three hours by road to get there—and that is a loss of time,” a Bangalore airport spokesperson said. “This is not a low cost option, but it is an option,” she added. The helicopters ferried around eight customers to the airport on their first day. The company that owns and operates the service is called Thumby Aviation. It previously specialized in private charter flights for government officials.

Q5: What is Bangalore airport trying to do about the helicopter taxi service?
Q6: What do we learn from the news about the helicopter taxi ride?
Q7: Who are the targeted customers of the helicopter taxi service?