Flight booking platform Flewber is preparing to launch its Flewber Hops air-taxi service within a 250-nm radius of New York City. By the end of this month, the company expects to complete the acquisition of a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet, which it will use to offer flights on a per-seat basis.
When the new Flewber Hops app later this year, it will allow customers to directly book flights on the company's aircraft. Flights will depart from an FBO at the closest airport to the client's location.
The Manhattan-based company, which launched in 2018 as a charter broker, is preparing to raise further capital through an initial public offering (IPO). An S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission reported that it was seeking alternative financing to complete the purchase of the Vision Jet, which had been expected to be funded from the IPO.
The Vision Jet will be operated by Ponderosa Air, which Flewber acquired back in 2019. The AOC holder, which is based at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York, currently operates a single Cessna 421CE Golden Eagle aircraft.
Flewber CEO Marc Sellouk is billing the new Hops service as a “personal air mobility” offering that will be established ahead of the anticipated eVTOL air taxi operations—while also offering greater range and capacity in an aircraft seating up to five passengers. He anticipates per-seat prices of between $199 and $699 (subject to availability for the route selected), with customers potentially able to take off just two hours after making a booking on the app.
In some instances, a flight might make a stop at a second airport to pick up additional passengers before proceeding to the final destination. Flewber intends to operate from as-yet-unspecified FBOs and says passengers will only need to arrive 15 minutes before the booked departure time.
If the Vision Jet is not available, the Flewber team will secure an aircraft for another Part 135 operator. The company has plans to add a second Vision Jet as demand increases. It says it has purposely limited the service radius to well below the range of the aircraft in order to ensure the fast turnarounds it needs to be responsive to demand at affordable prices.
Sellouk told AIN that Flewber is focused on expanding the customer base among travelers frustrated by the lack of convenient scheduled airline service to smaller airports. “We’re not competing with private aviation, and we have a different demographic from [services like] Wheels Up,” he said, reporting that the Flewber app already has 14,000 people signed up. There are no membership or subscription charges for using the service.
The existing Flewber App launched in May 2019 offering a “book, bid, and share” platform for flights provided by multiple third-party operators. This app supports the company's Flewber Luxe charter brokerage service.
Sellouk said Flewber is already considering locations for other service networks across the U.S., such as Ohio. He said he is open to the possibility of using new eSTOL aircraft that are expected to be able to fly in and out of very small sites.
With the date for the IPO not yet fixed, Flewber said it is arranging alternative funding sources to cover the full cost of the Vision Jet, for which it has already paid a $300,000 deposit to Cirrus. The $3.3 million purchase price includes a maintenance package.
This story was updated on October 7 to clarify how the new Flewber Hops app will be used.