BLADE AIR MOBILITY SEES GROWTH IN MEDICAL BUT STAGNATION IN PASSENGER SERVICES

Soaring over Westchester County Airport (KHPN) in White Plains, New York, was Beta Technologies' ALIA-250 eVTOL aircraft, part of a flight test between Beta and partner Blade Air Mobility as the latter looks to transition to an air taxi service.

But those aircraft are still a few years away from entering service. In the meantime, Blade is focused on the here and now. Last month the company released financials for the first quarter of 2023 that reflected solid growth in its medical transport services and a potential runway for growth in chartered, passenger-carrying helicopter services. "We are making exceptional progress on all fronts, resulting in our seventh consecutive quarter with financial results ahead of our expectations," Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal said in a statement.

Blade's total first-quarter revenue was US$45.3 million. That is an increase of 70 percent year over year attributable mostly to its MediMobility Organ Transplant service, which received a massive boost after the firm's 2021 acquisition of Trinity Air Medical. The company's medical segment brought in $26.8 million for the quarter, rising 111 percent annually and 24 percent over the previous quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), meanwhile, rose from just less than US$1 million last year to around US$1.9 million this quarter. It attributed those gains to new hospital wins, growth with existing clients and market factors. Specifically, Blade sees tailwinds from organ preservation technology, which will increase the number of organs available for transplant and the distance they can travel and, by extension, Blade's revenue per mission. "We continue to demonstrate our unique value proposition in medical through the addition of new customers, while supporting added volume and transport distances amongst our existing customer base," Wiesenthal said.