Grab for business travel: Blacklane plans to double Asia-Pacific staff

The next time you weigh your options for getting to and from the airport, you might stumble upon Blacklane, a Berlin-based chauffeur service.

Expanding rapidly within Asia Pacific in recent years, the company was founded by Jens Wohltorf and Frank Steuer in September 2011. As frequent business travelers, they noticed that securing ground transport was not as easy as booking flights and hotels.

Photo credit: Blacklane

Addressing that gap in the market, the duo decided to build a platform that provides high-end but accessible ground transport service on a global scale. Wohltorf and Steuer eventually launched Blacklane, fulfilling something that they’ve wanted to do since their university days: start a business together.

Since then, Blacklane has gone on to offer its services in over 500 airports in 300 cities across 60 countries. Through its platform, it connects travelers to a network of professional chauffeurs around the world.

In Asia Pacific, Blacklane’s services are available in 84 cities across 15 countries. In Southeast Asia, it is present in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Making chauffeured high-end rides less expensive

Blacklane’s two key services are chauffeured rides and airport concierge, including lounge access. Platform users may book vehicles such as a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi 8, Chevrolet Suburban, and Toyota Crown.

With more travelers seeking eco-friendly options, Blacklane introduced emissions-free chauffeured rides courtesy of Tesla cars – labeled Green Class on their platform – in 2018.

“When Blacklane first started, we had more corporate travelers as they had an urgent need for such transport,” explains Lo Li-Wen, the company’s regional director for APAC, who declined to reveal specific numbers. “Through the years, these corporate travelers who experienced the product started using it for travel and leisure. Today, the ratio between corporate and leisure travelers is 70 to 30.”

She adds that Blacklane’s network of chauffeured services complements – rather than competes with – ride-hailing businesses.

“Ride-hailing companies are focusing on short-distance, inner-city mobility. So most of [those] rides are a few miles, while Blacklane’s average distance is 15 to 25 miles, depending on the city. The strongest cities for ride-hailing companies are also the strongest cities for Blacklane,” says Lo.

Blacklane positions itself as a cheaper alternative to legacy limousine companies. The company conducted a global study that compared its prices with legacy limousine service providers’ fees for the same rides on the same dates, times, and cities.

The results showed that Blacklane’s average fare of US$90 was 54 percent lower than the average legacy limousine fare, which was US$194.

When it comes to business and revenue model, Blacklane takes a different approach from its ride-hailing counterparts. Typically, ride-hailing services take a commission and pay drivers based on time and distance. However, Blacklane’s guests pay a guaranteed, all-inclusive rate, so there are no hidden costs or extra charges.

Asia-Pacific expansion

Future plans