Skip to main content

What’s better than driving a Mercedes home from the airport? Riding in a helicopter

Mercedes-Benz Heli-Express
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A Mercedes-Benz is among the most luxurious ways to get from Point A to Point B, but what happens when you have to step out of it?

Mercedes already has dealerships near certain airports that allow owners to avoid public parking through the company’s Airport Express service. Now, it’s taking things one step further.

The German carmaker has teamed up with a helicopter transport company called Air Melbourne to offer a new service, Motor Authority reports.

Customers can get off a plane in Melbourne, Australia, and get into a helicopter at an adjacent Mercedes dealership.

That’s one way to beat traffic.

The helicopters will whisk their passengers to the city center, giving Mercedes’ own cars a run for their money.

The service operates from sunrise to sunset, and costs AU$274 (about $254 U.S. at current exchange rates) per ride. Mercedes has no plans to offer helicopter rides outside Australia, but it will expand to other Melbourne-area airports in the near future.

Still, hile Mercedes owners in other markets won’t get to ride helicopters home from the airport, making the trip in a leather-lined, perfume-dispensing 2014 S-Class isn’t exactly torture.

Editors' Recommendations

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV first drive review: ’90s look, cutting-edge tech
Front three quarter view of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.

Mercedes-Benz is one of the oldest automakers in existence, but it's been among the quickest to launch a lineup of electric cars. It may not have the freshness of a startup, but what it does have are actual cars to sell to customers.

The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV is the middle child of Mercedes' electric SUV lineup, slotting between the entry-level EQB and the flagship EQS SUV, and targeting electric luxury SUVs like the Audi E-Tron, BMW iX, and Cadillac Lyriq. Like the EQS, the EQE SUV is based on an existing sedan, hence the "SUV" suffix. In a previous first drive, we found the EQE sedan to be a good balance between luxury and livability, giving the SUV version a lot to live up to.

Read more
Mercedes is finally bringing an electric van to the U.S.
Front three quarter view of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter electric van.

Mercedes-Benz might be known for luxury cars, but it also makes vans, and it's finally bringing an electric van to the United States.

Scheduled to start production this summer, the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter is an all-electric version of the Sprinter full-size cargo van that's already a favorite of delivery services like FedEx and Amazon, as well as camper van converters. While the automaker has been selling electric vans in Europe since 2010, the new eSprinter is the first one aimed at the U.S. market.

Read more
Mercedes EV charging hubs are coming to North America by the end of the decade
What a future Mercedes-Benz EV charging hub might look like.

You can't have more electric cars without more charging stations, so Mercedes-Benz is building a global charging network covering North America, China, Europe, and other major markets to support its goal of going all-electric by the end of the decade where market conditions allow.

Announced at CES 2023, the network should be in place by the end of the decade in line with Mercedes' electrification goal. It's a bold move by the automaker, which has mostly relied on third-party charging networks until now.

Read more