$1,480 helicopter rides running NYC-U.S. Open at Shinnecock

Everyone knows about Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

But don’t forget helicopters.

Fans heading to this weekend’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club have another option to get to the tournament via helicopter. BLADE is offering helicopter rides to and from Manhattan directly onto the Shinnecock Nation Powwow Grounds for each of the Open’s four competition days beginning Thursday, though it will cost a pretty penny.

People looking to fly can purchase $1,480 one-way tickets, sold by the seat, on each of the flights either to or from Manhattan directly on the BLADE.com website. The rides toward Shinnecock will take approximately 35-to-40 minutes from one of BLADE’s three lounges in Manhattan: the West 30th Street Heliport, the East 34th Street Heliport and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport.

BLADE also is offering trips from the East Hampton Airport for golf fans who already are close to Shinnecock Hills. Those trips, which are approximately 10-to-12 minutes long, cost $645 per seat for a one-way ticket.

“This is really exciting for us,” said Merrick’s Jeffrey Brenner, BLADE’s vice president of global partnerships and activations, in a conversation with Newsday at the U.S. Open’s BLADE Lounge on Wednesday afternoon.

“We are now doing our fourth major golf event, second in the last two years after the Ryder Cup last year at Bethpage. Been fortunate enough to work with Shinnecock Nation, allowing us to land some helicopters on their property here, which is just minutes from the gate at the U.S. Open.

“So we're providing service from New York City, the Hamptons, pretty much anywhere you'd like to fly to the course, avoid the traffic, help clear some of the congestion on the streets as well.”

The slogan on BLADE’s website for the U.S. Open reads: “The longest drive is nothing to brag about.”

Complimentary transportation will be provided to and from the Shinnecock Nation landing zone and the U.S. Open.

BLADE also is welcoming charter flights from other nearby locations such as Westchester and New Jersey.

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Brenner said BLADE had 115 flights booked with about 550 fliers for the U.S. Open. BLADE had around 3,000 fliers over four days during last September’s Ryder Cup, and Brenner said they are looking for around 1,000 this weekend. He noted the helicopter ride can be a “last-minute product” and “we expect people to book up as they see what the traffic's looking like on Sunrise Highway.”

The BLADE Lounge features an indoor, comfortable tent setup with more seating outside.

“This is for passenger aggregation,” Brenner said. “We need to make sure that everybody's safe, no one's walking into an active taxiway, active loading zone. We offer cold refreshments, cool place to relax before. We really try to refine the experience for everybody, so that it's stress-free and a really great way to just travel to the Open.”

Two types of helicopters will carry passengers to and from the Open. There’s the Bell 407, a single-engine, single-pilot helicopter that could carry up to six passengers. Then there’s the Sikorsky S-76, a dual-engine, two-pilot aircraft with a quiet cabin — think of it as a private jet version of helicopters — that can comfortably carry eight people.

As far as the views that passengers will see?

“We want to be respectful of everybody on Long Island, and of course, here on Shinnecock Nation land,” Brenner said. “So our route is going to be along the waterway. We follow essentially out of Manhattan, come through the Verrazzano, and then we'll just follow the beaches all the way along.

“So you'll have a beautiful view of the beaches as you fly out along Long Island, and then we come in right through Shinnecock Canal and right onto the Nation's territory here.”

The lounge also will include a model of the new all-electric air taxi by Joby Aviation, which acquired BLADE last year. It’s a silent, emission-free machine that Brenner said is “perfect for locations here in New York, in and around urban areas.”

The Shinnecock Nation also is thrilled to be the home for helicopter transportation this week. It will be the first time that helicopters have landed in their field.

“I think it's very exciting,” Shinnecock chairwoman Lisa Goree said. “We are putting Shinnecock on the map. A lot of people don't realize that there is a Native American reservation right here, so we are very excited to put our name out there and have something like this happening right on our territory.”

Goree said the helicopter service will help with Shinnecock’s revenue stream, benefiting their senior citizen programs and annual Powwow celebration; the 80th Shinnecock Powwow will take place on Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4-7), when Native Americans from all over the country come to Shinnecock for a celebration that features food, dancing, arts and crafts and more.

“And who knows?” she said. “Maybe they can fly in.”

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.