Uber customers in the UK will soon be able to reserve flights through the ride-booking app, as the company aims to offer multiple forms of transport.
The new feature allowing consumers to book domestic and international flights is being rolled out on Uber’s UK app and will be available to all British users by the summer.
Uber said the flight-booking function was part of its ambition to “create a seamless door-to-door travel solution” alongside the car ride-sharing function it was first known for. The company has partnered with online travel agent Hopper to let users book flights, and will receive a small commission from each sale.
Users in the UK, which is one of Uber’s largest markets outside North America, are already able to book coach tickets on National Express and Megabus services on the app, as well as train journeys across the National Rail network and on Eurostar.
In London, the US company has held the naming rights to the Thames Clippers commuter boat service since 2020, which was rebranded Uber Boat. These journeys are also bookable through Uber’s app, which allows passengers to board the riverboats using a QR code on their phone.
To book a flight, Uber users will need to enter their travel information, including where they are flying from and to, and the planned travel date.
The company said they would then be able to select one-way and return flights, and then select and pay for seats in the app, if travelling with a major airline.
Andrew Brem, general manager at Uber UK, said: “Our new functionality will make the booking and managing of air travel simple and stress-free, with the booking process taking as little as one minute.”
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, shared his plans for the company to become “an operating system for everyday life” in 2019, when he merged its ride-hailing and Uber Eats food delivery services. He also added a feature to the app which highlighted local public transport options.
The group grew revenues by about one-third in the first three months of the year, it reported on Tuesday, helping to narrow its net loss.
The company recorfed a 19% increase in bookings between January and March, compared with a year earlier, while it achieved a 24% increase in journeys, averaging approximately 24m trips a day on average.
