Bonjour! Air France offers Mexico Helicopter Rides

Posted By Ben Nickel-D'Andrea on Sep 26, 2018 | 2 comments

One of the byproducts of living relatively near to SeaTac, having TSA Precheck and Clear is that we have become rather cocky when calculating our commuting time from our place to the airport. More than once I have said to myself ‘I wish we could just take a helicopter ride’ in order to bypass our totally ridiculous and unpredictable Seattle traffic. Well, it turns out I might be able to now. Sort of.

Voom

Air France has partnered with Voom (an Airbus company) in order to offer helicopter rides to and from Mexico City Airport (MEX). Unfortunately my dreams of door-to-airport service have not been answered. Voom will offer rides between four pickup locations around Mexico City; Montes Urales, Lomas de Chapultepec, Interlomas and between the Toluca and Mexico City airports, to facilitate connections.

Air France + Voom from Voom.com

The service is -obviously- not free of charge although Air France does provide a 25% discount code to their passengers when booking by using the code AIRFRANCE25. You do need to have a standing Air France reservation in order to take advantage of the discounted ride. This helicopter shuttle service ranges between 2500 and 5000 pesos, which is roughly between $133 and $266. Considering an Uber ride from downtown Seattle to SEA can go for $80 and you still have to sit in traffic, it’s not that terrible.

From Voom’s CEO: “We are excited to launch this partnership with Air France in Mexico City. Together, we will ensure that Air France customers have the fastest and most convenient way to travel to and from the Mexico City International Airport,” 

And fast is definitely something they can deliver on. They promise to get you between these points in under 15 minutes. If you have been to Mexico City, you already know it’s virtually impossible to get anywhere in under 15 minutes, unless you’re going all of five blocks away.

Air France + Voom from Voom.com

Voom, which is part of A^3, An Airbus offshoot in Silicon Valley, also offer similar helicopter shuttle service in Sao Paulo airport in Brazil. They also partner with Cabify in order to provide on-demand helicopter ride services, also known as CabiFly. They service multiple points between helipads in the Sao Paulo region in Brazil as well as around Mexico City.

Is it Worth it?

While this isn’t something I’d particularly see much value for regular travelers, I do think it might end up proving invaluable for business travelers instead. And no, I do not consier myself a regular traveler and would absolutely love to do this. Sao Paulo and Mexico City are giant metropolis and business hubs for all of Latin-America. I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of current users are executives quickly flying in and out after inking a deal.

Air France + Voom from Voom.com

I don’t see a lot of value, though, in using this service as a tourist ride unless you really enjoy flying in a helicopter or love seeing HUMONGOUS cities like Sao Paulo and Mexico City from above. If you would like a somewhat more scenic flight in a helicopter, I would probably suggest you do a helicopter ride to get from NYC to your mansion in the Hamptons, the Cannes Film Festival, from LA to Coachella, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival from Nashville, or to get from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.