OHI launches helicopter service for Brazil's richest, eyes 'flying cars'

Gabriel Araujo
Updated ·2 min read

By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Portuguese helicopter services provider OHI launched a new business in Brazil on Thursday to shuttle the country's super rich between Sao Paulo's wealthiest neighborhoods, a market it sees reaching 90,000 passengers per year by 2028.

Named Revo, the new company will offer helicopter flights through a digital platform to high-income clients in Latin America's largest city so they can escape the metropolis' chaotic road traffic.

Revo will initially offer flights connecting Faria Lima Avenue, Sao Paulo's equivalent of Wall Street, to the local Guarulhos international airport and Fazenda Boa Vista, a countryside resort where many wealthy people live or spend their free time.

The firm at first will operate two Airbus helicopters from the fleet of OHI's local subsidiary Omni Taxi Aereo, widely known for providing offshore air transportation in South America, but eyes reaching 12 choppers in the next five years.

"So far feedback has been very positive, as well as reactions to our prices," Revo CEO Joao Welsh said in an interview, adding he expects the firm's revenue to hit $80 million within five years.

Revo will charge 3,500 reais ($716.58) per seat on its shortest flight, connecting the airport and Faria Lima. It says that represents a 82.5% drop in prices when compared with the current cost of flying between those places by charter.

Revo's goal, Welsh said, is to one day use "flying cars", or electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). It has already reached a deal with Embraer-owned Eve to buy 50 of its electric aircraft.

"Air transport revolutions always happen in the high-income segment," Welsh noted.

The eVTOL will not do everything a helicopter does in terms of load and flight range initially, the executive said.

"But I think we'll have a hybrid phase... It is perfect for short flights such as the one between Guarulhos and Faria Lima."

($1 = 4.8843 reais)

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Gerry Doyle)