Uber rolls out flight bookings in travel ‘super app’ plan

Ride-hailing giant Uber has launched flight bookings in the United Kingdom (UK). PHOTO | POOL

Ride-hailing giant Uber has launched flight bookings in the United Kingdom (UK) in its latest push to become a travel super app that would allow customers to move seamlessly using multiple modes of transport. 

The firm has entered into a partnership with travel agency Hopper to provide international and domestic flight booking services solely in the UK as it plans to expand to other markets. 

The move is “the latest and most ambitious step” in the company’s strategy to expand its core ride-booking business, Uber’s UK General Manager Andrew Brem told the Financial Times (FT).

FT said Uber will charge commissions from each ticket sale and could add booking fees on top in the future. 

The San Francisco-based company already has train and coach booking services in the country with the latest moving the firm a step closer to having a travel booking platform.

Uber is using the UK- its biggest market outside North America- as a testing ground for its long-term vision of becoming a travel booking platform. 

First mooted in 2018, Uber’s plans were brought to a halt by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw countries impose lockdowns and movement restrictions. 

This is not the first time the ride-hailing firm is entering the air travel business. 

In 2019, Uber launched a helicopter-hailing service in the UK dubbed Uber Copter which has suspended in 2020, at the height of the pandemic.  

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