If you want to beat the traffic and arrive to the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix in impeccable style, nothing — with the possible exception of a Harrier Jump Jet — beats a helicopter.
How does Dubai to Yas Island in less than half an hour sound? Good, right? That will be Uber’s chopper service, then, which is being offered, in conjunction with Alpha Tours, to users of the ride-hailing app on Sunday, November 26
UberChopper, as it is known, will be available for pre-booking from midday on Wednesday, November 22, with rides costing Dh2,000 per person for one-way flights, with a maximum of six passengers per flight.
Boarding in Dubai takes place at the helipad at Atlantis The Palm, with the chopper landing at Yas Links. An Uber car will take passengers to and from the helipads.
Booking is simple (although there are checks in place to make sure you haven’t made a reservation by mistake), using the normal app, and Uber says it’s expecting demand to be high, so keep trying if you’re unable to book right away.
Don’t start planning any extravagant in-flight social-media posts, though, because Uber is reminding passengers that selfie-sticks, tripods, tablet devices, ‘Osmo’ stabilisers and professional cameras are not allowed to be used during the flight.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones aren’t permitted anywhere on board, and each passenger’s weight must be disclosed at the time of booking, so you might want to think twice about the brunch on Friday.
Oh, and the helicopter won’t hang around for latecomers, so plan to get to the helipad at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure.
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Read more:
[ Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017: All you need to know for the weekend of racing at Yas Marina Circuit ]
[ Abu Dhabi GP: Best places to soak up the atmosphere around the capital ]
[ Abu Dhabi GP music: Our guide to who's playing where Formula One weekend ]
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