Monacair is one of three regional helicopter companies to have its services taken over by US group Blade Air Mobility, which will begin operations with a seven-minute Nice to Monaco transfer during this week’s Monaco Grand Prix.
It was announced recently that the routes and heliports of Monacair, Héli Sécurité and another unnamed European operator have been bought out by US group Blade Air Mobility for a reported €48 million.
“These three acquisitions are core to our strategy of leveraging our asset-light model to aggregate the premier use cases for urban air mobility,” Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal said in a statement. “As a result, Blade has now amassed what we believe to be the most valuable routes in the world.
“Adding this formidable presence in Europe to our existing operations across the greater New York area, Vancouver, and India, is a critical step in our expansion.”
Monacair runs 50 scheduled flights daily between Nice Airport and Monaco, while Héli Sécurité has 16 flights that cover St. Tropez and the Swiss Alps. An industry source in Europe identified the third company as Cannes-based Azur Hélicoptère, whose investors include Oaktree Capital Management, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The local companies will keep their fleets, with Blade as their sole customer using an “asset light strategy”. This will allow the entities to transfer capabilities, such as people, processes and technology to new owners in order to allow existing businesses to transfer fixed costs to a variable cost structure.
Blade calls itself a “technology-powered, global urban air mobility platform committed to reducing travel friction by enabling cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested ground routes in the U.S. and abroad”.
By-the-seat flights for the Monaco Grand Prix start at $220.
The group has secured prominent investors for the deal, including Cathie Wood from Ark Invest and Ferrari shareholder John Elkann.
“The whole business model behind Blade is to accumulate the best routes, infrastructure, and customers in the world who are currently traveling by helicopter . . . and then providing those businesses with a seamless transition for electric vertical aircraft,” CEO Rob Wiesenthal told Financial Times.
Blade has sought to put its brand on popular routes in advance of the arrival of a new generation of electric vertical aircraft, called eVOTLs or EVAs, and have contracted four EVA developers to start delivering new choppers in 2024.
Opportunist Verstappen wins as Leclerc’s machinery fails him
A mid-race mechanical failure ruined Charles Leclerc’s otherwise flawless weekend in Spain, as Max Verstappen took victory on Sunday and moved into pole position in the drivers’ standings.
Leclerc looked to be cruising to the chequered flag in Barcelona. Having taken pole, he also had the race pace to match as he cut off a Verstappen charge off the line, before growing a lead. Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz didn’t have such a serene run off the line as he immediately lost places to George Russell and Carlos Perez, who both collided at the first corner, without consequence for either driver.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, had a disastrous start, colliding with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, receiving a puncture, and limping back to the pits in 19th position. Sainz’s poor start was then compounded by a spin on lap seven, which demoted him to 11th.
Leclerc’s lead looked definitive on lap nine when Verstappen spun at the same corner as Sainz had just two laps earlier, which saw him fall behind Russell and team-mate Perez. With Verstappen out of the picture, Leclerc grew a lead of 30 seconds before coming into the pits.
It was looking like a comfortable victory for Leclerc, which would not only substantially grow his championship lead but also deal a psychological blow to his rivals before he heads to his home race in Monaco next week.
That all changed at the halfway mark, as Leclerc slowed on the track, the terminal words, “I have lost power” confirming his retirement – the face of the race, and of the championship, significantly altered by a moment of cruel misfortune.
Verstappen was now reinvigorated and smelt his chance. He immediately went for the undercut. Putting on the softs, he began his charge into the lead. He comfortably took Valterri Bottas to claim third, and following pit stops from Russell and Perez, he took the lead.
Verstappen still needed to make another stop, but came out ahead of Russell. Having closed in on Perez, his teammate let him breeze past to take the lead of the race; a leap which he never looked like relinquishing.
Perez held onto second and Russell onto third. The remarkable drive of the day belonged to Hamilton, whose charge from the back of the pack was rewarded with a fifth-place finish. He had temporarily passed Sainz, but due to a technical issue, had to ease off at the end of the race, allowing the Spaniard, competing in his home race, to re-take fourth.
Photo of Charles Leclerc waving to fans at the Spanish Grand Prix, source Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
Leclerc, for the first time this season, has now, through no fault of his own, ceded his championship lead. Verstappen now leads by six points from Leclerc, and the Dutch driver has four wins to Leclerc’s two.
However, post-race Leclerc was determined to stay positive. “So far this year, the team has been doing an incredible job in terms of reliability. Of course, this one hurts because we were in front all weekend and worked really well,” the Monégasque began. “I know that things like this can happen sometimes and in moments like these, it is important to look at the positives. Our pace was very strong in qualifying and in the race and the feeling in the car was really good,” said Leclerc.
But things aren’t all positive. Ferrari may have had pace here in Spain, but it is important to profit from it when the pendulum seems to swing between the Red Bull and Ferrari on a weekly basis. The Red Bull, as they have throughout the season thus far, will likely hit back in the next races, as they bring upgrades of their own. The Mercedes, meanwhile, looks like it may finally be joining the party. They may not be immediately in the hunt for race wins, but at the least, they are challengers for the podium positions. Russell in particular is only 30 points behind Leclerc, whilst you would expect the experience of Hamilton to allow him to close in on the leading pack.
To re-affirm himself as the title favourite, a solid showing on home turf is a must for Leclerc, and he is relishing the task, despite lacking luck at Monte-Carlo in recent times. “Next up is my home race in Monaco, so I’m really looking forward to it and I hope that it will be a good one,” concluded Leclerc.
Stay tuned to Monaco Life as we interview Charles Leclerc ahead of the weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix!
Photos source: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
Monte-Carlo Casino dealers shine at European Championships
The Casino de Monte-Carlo was the site for this year’s European Dealer Championships, where the crème de la crème of card dealers competed to be crowned the best in world. And Monaco’s young croupiers placed well.
After a two-year absence due to the pandemic, the 14th European Dealer Championships returned with a record number of participants, with this year being particularly notable as it was hosted at arguably the most famous casino in the world, the Casino de Monte-Carlo.
This year, 40 dealers were selected on a national level to compete in a contest involving technical skill, quick thinking, control of the game, hospitality skills and nerves of steel. They proved their prowess in two of the most popular of all casino card games, Black Jack and American Roulette.
In addition to the specialities needed from above, the dealers also competed in disciplines that should be mastered by all dealers, such as chipping, card handling, cutting chips, pushing stacks, maths and picture bets.
“We are delighted and proud to welcome the European Dealer Championship, organised by the European Casino Association, at the legendary Casino de Monte-Carlo,” said Jean-Luc Biamonti, CEO Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer. “The History of Monaco is intimately linked to gambling and the Casino de Monte- Carlo, with its unique vision, its excellence and savoir-faire, and strives relentlessly for the success and legacy of the casino activity in Europe. The dealer plays a major role in this vision: being discreet and efficient, the excellence of their gestures and their role with the client is key to convey the Principality’s Great Art of Gaming.”
Photo front row eft to right: SBM Casino Director Pascal Camia, participant Christopher Subtil Conceicao, SBM CEO Jean-Luc Biamonti, participant Noémie Serra, and Rudy Tarditi, General Director Casino de Monte-Carlo. Photo courtesy Monte-Carlo SBM
The contestants, who came from 22 nations, including the UK, France, Sweden, Luxembourg, Estonia, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and of course Monaco, were judged by 36 jury members and cheered on by a crowd estimated to be in the hundreds.
There were 10 women competing this year, including 26-year-old Noémie Serra, representing Monaco alongside Christopher Subtil Conceicao. Ms Serra was awarded the prize for Best Chip Cutting and Mr Subtil Conceicao was selected as Best Card Handler.
In a press release, the SBM noted that, “the performances of Noémie Serra and Christopher Subtil Conceicao are all the more important as they were both amongst the youngest croupiers participating in the European Dealer Championship. Young but perfectly experienced in techniques through their training at the Monaco Games School. This one-of-a-kind school is based on transmission from generation to generation, keys to excellence since 1863, and continuously enriching it with international best practices. Noémie Serra joined the games school in 2018 and Christopher Subtil Conceicao in 2019.”
The winner of the best dealer overall was Christoph Boo, from the Casino in Zurich, Switzerland. In second place was Daniel Rhodes to the Hippodrome in London, and the bronze went to Zoltan Horvath from Casino Györ in Hungary. Monaco’s two representatives placed well with Neomie Serra just off the podium in fourth place and Christopher Subtil Conceicao is sixth.
The tournament took place in the Salle Medecin of the Casino from the 16th to 18th of May, with the prize-giving ceremony taking place at the Hotel Hermitage, the same locale the contestants met at to welcome them to the event.
“Casinos are part of Europe’s rich cultural heritage, said P. Jaldung, Chairman of the European Casino Association. “All of us understand the very special and unique entertainment we offer our guests – the social and emotional connection that binds our industry together. Casino guests enjoy not only the service and thrill of the game but also the professionalism of their hosts, the dealers. The job of a dealer requires social skills, concentration and manual dexterity. Keeping a gaming table under control on a busy evening is an art – and now the greatest artists have gathered in Monaco.”
Discover Monaco’s first perfume cocktail list at the new Equivoque rooftop bar, where aroma and flavour are married in an elaborate and interactive menu. Here’s how it works.
With its location on avenue d’Ostende, the Miramar Hotel offers incredible views of the harbour, the glistening Mediterranean Sea, and the plethora of luxury superyachts that it houses.
Above this nautical-themed boutique hotel sits a unique bar experience, recently launched and never seen before in Monaco, but one that has been trending around the world.
“We don’t put the ingredients on the cocktail menu, only the aroma, because we want the guests to choose the cocktail based only on the emotion that they are experiencing at the very moment they smell the perfume,” says Antonio.
Given the strong link between the senses of smell and taste, the concept is novel, but not altogether surprising.
Perfumes are made up of head notes, heart notes, and base notes, just as cocktails are made up of different, identifiable parts.
At Equivoque, guests are presented with a box of aromas that have been specially crafted by experts in the perfume capital of the world.
“The perfumer in Grasse made for us six different fragrances, and each fragrance is like one of our cocktails,” adds Antonio as he sprays an aroma onto a scent strip and asks us what we think.
Photo by Monaco Life
Each fragrance has its own unique smell and personality: some are sweeter than others, some have an obvious almond or aniseed note, others a crisper, cleaner finish. Everything that we identify is explained by the charismatic Antonio.
Based on our favourite, we are presented with a cocktail. I am thrilled to find mine mimics a Manhattan, one of my all-time go-to drinks.
But not only are smell and taste heightened at Equivoque, the sense of sight is also elevated as mixologists present the cocktails with imagination and flair. For example, mine is presented in a glass shoe, the smoke flavouring the alcohol as he swirls the glass and pours it into my cocktail coup from a height. The drink itself is well balanced with the bitter tones that I had enjoyed in the aroma.
I wonder if I would choose the same next time.
“The scent can change depending on the day, your mood, your memories,” explains Antonio.
While the rooftop bar was inaugurated only recently, the hotel itself has been open since August 2021.
After a four-year full renovation, the long-standing Miramar has been given a new life with 14 rooms inspired by the marine world, offering guests to Monaco a much-needed boutique alternative.
“In most big cities, there is often a boutique hotel or a modern city hotel that has affordable rates for people who need to come for two to three nights, but who still expect a decent quality and an individual approach and stylish design,” says owner Gleb Tskhovrebov.
“Sure, other hotels offer more services than us, but they are all the same. This is refreshing, stylish and more personal.”
Equivoque is open from Tuesday to Saturday. In addition to cocktails, the terrace bar offers raw fish dishes and gourmet bruschetta.
See more of Equivoque in our Instagram videos below…
Monaco’s Shibuya Productions invited a special guest to the premier screening of Top Gun: Maverick at Cannes, fulfilling French astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s lifelong dream of meeting his film hero Tom Cruise.
Whilst many people are huge admirers of astronauts, astronauts need someone to admire as well. In the case of French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, he was able to realise his dream of meeting his own screen idol, Tom Cruise, in a place no less than on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.
Thomas Pesquet has been in the news quite a bit recently as part of a crew who in April 2021 boarded the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month stint. It was a notable journey in that he was transported there on the Space Systems International Space X Crew Dragon, a partially reusable spacecraft, marking the new way space travel is heading.
The astronaut’s turn on the red carpet was thanks to an invitation from Monaco-based video games company, Shibuya Productions, who it is rumoured will be working on a project together. Rumours also abound about a possible collaboration between Pesquet and Cruise, who is scheduled to head into space and go aboard the ISS in preparation for a new film he will be shooting with director Doug Liman.
The evening was topped off by Cruise landing by helicopter to the site, and a passage of the Patrouille de France, the precision aerobatics demonstration unit of the French Air and Space Force, over the Palais des Festivals.
Photo: Cedric Biscay and Thomas Pesquet at Cannes 2022, photo by Shibuya Productions
Monaco’s new F1 experience: “Closing the gap between virtual and reality”
AS Grand Prix vibes reach fever pitch, Monaco’s own Bond international, RS Simulation and iCrew Services are partnering-up to bring a thrilling F1 simulator experience to the Principality, on the biggest screen you could ever imagine.
“As with most things, we like to do something that we think has not been done before,” Bond Management Director Will Faimatea tells Monaco Life.
What they have created in the Samsung Lounge is certainly something that hasn’t been seen, or experienced, in the Principality before. The enormous, ultra-modern, electronically advanced screen by Samsung, dubbed “The Wall”, is a must-see in itself. Pair that with a €42,000 SectorOne professional simulator created in partnership with Scuderia Alpha Tauri’s F1 driver Pierre Gasly, and you have a seriously immersive racing experience.
This “eye-catching” synergy between Bond and RS Simulation Monaco was born out of a chance meeting between Will Faimatea and Jonathan Mareschal, business director of RS Simulation Monaco. Having seen the capacities of the simulator on a 50” screen, Faimatea immediately saw the potential to maximise the product and bring it to a larger, more advanced screen.
“The Wall is suited to fast moving actions, which you get driving on the simulator because we’re driving through Monaco and the background is changing at a very high speed,” says Faimatea.
The Wall is often used to show sporting events and movies, but the addition of the simulator will allow guests to engage in an exclusive, unforgettable experience.
The SectorOne simulator itself is the first compact simulator born from real racing, from the work of race engineers using simulation as a tool in the racing industry to answer an increasing demand of professional drivers wanting to work/train at home. They include Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly, SectorOne’s main ambassador, a racing enthusiast eager to use the ultimate simulation technology, as performant as luxurious.
The SectorOne was inaugurated in 2019 with Pierre Gasly on a yacht in Monaco, whilst a whole host of other drivers such as Nico Hülkenburg, Nico Rosberg and Jean Eric Vergne have also tested what the simulator has to offer. It is “a state of the art compact simulator to live the race at its best,” according to Pierre Gasly.
Simulators are nothing new. They’re well-known for gaming and sim racing. You can often go to racing events around the world and try them out, but it’s normally on a small screen and they’re a cheap set-up designed for the general public.
Jonathan Mareschal says RS Simulation wants to offer people more than a game from a simulator experience. “Since 2013, RS Simulation Monaco has developed professional simulators for professional racing teams, and as the general public cannot access anything like this, we aim to provide them with a taste of real racing with luxurious finishing,” says Mareschal.
The focus of RS Simulation’s engineers is therefore to deliver the most accurate feedback to the driver, with components as close as possible to those used in the racing world, or even actual racing parts.
“What we’re trying to do is close the gap between virtual and reality,” adds Mareschal. “The public can try our cutting-edge SectorOne tubular frame (like a real roll cage), the finest Dbox Haptic motion platform with a professional hydraulic pedal box system, one of the best steering wheel’s available, and a carbon fiber racing seat in a single-seater position.”
And this is where the partnership with Bond comes in, creating something unique and special within the Principality of Monaco. “One thing that is very important on a simulator is graphics. You need to be as immersed as possible,” says Mareschal. “So, this immersion is critical and here the idea is ultra-innovative. It’s like a laboratory with Samsung’s technology, with The Wall. You don’t usually find simulators with this size screen.”
There is a reason for that: the logistical challenge of bringing together the two elements cannot be underestimated. Trent Sprules, managing director of iCrew Services, is used to installing simulators at events such as the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, but setting it up in a small lounge in Monaco provided a unique set of challenges. “Getting the simulator in here, up the narrow stairs, is quite a challenge,” he explains.
Key to this project is the idea of creating an “experience”. It is one thing to have the tools, but maximising their potential is the important part. Faimatea has already formulated plans to attract clients not just from Monaco, but beyond.
“It’s something that wasn’t previously available in Monaco,” began Faimatea. “So, it’s about increasing exposure in Monaco, and also bringing in outside companies for corporate events; to experience Monaco with staff and management teams, try the simulator and have some competitive fun; see who gets the best time in the company, for example.”
The competitive element is a key ingredient to the project, and could manifest itself in a type of “Monaco Cup” where clients compete to record the best times. “The idea is to have the best drivers and personalities in Monaco come here, to enjoy it and think for example: Pierre Gasly or Mika Häkkinen has set such a flying lap time. I have the opportunity now to challenge them,” says Mareschal.
More broadly speaking, the addition of the simulator to the Samsung Lounge is about creating a more interactive event. Clients have long since been used to visiting the lounge to watch sporting events, for example the F1 races, but that is about to change, starting with this weekend’s Spanish GP.
“The simulator brings so much added value to the event. When you watch an F1 race, you stay passive, but here the VIP can become active. They are part of it. It’s interactive,” says Mareschal.
“The idea is that you come in before the official race, do a couple of time trials on the track, and then watch the race live on The Wall with the memory of having just driven it,” adds Faimatea.
And that is the key to this synergy event, this perfect marriage of Monegasque businesses. By coming together, pooling their respective expertise, they are creating a new experience in the Principality, one that is unique and interactive and, with the introduction of the “Monaco Cup”, potentially highly competitive.
Photos provided
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