A growing popularity of urban air mobility market has caused many companies to get interested in the idea of more sustainable city travels. Who are the most prominent investors in this brand-new industry?
UAM is still a new concept in the world of air transportation. The idea of urban air mobility is simple: to enable safe urban travels with personal air vehicles. But every high-tech industry needs some investors, who help increase its value on the global market. We have recently mentioned Volocopter, which is a good example of UAM precursor. Today look on some other prominent players in this brand-new urban air mobility market!
Airbus – an urban air mobility leader
Despite some undeniable differences between UAM and traditional airplanes, both have a lot in common. No wonder that one of the most notable investors dedicated to personal air vehicle development is Airbus, which is also a leading aerospace company. Airbus urban air mobility branch is trying to turn dreams of flying cars into a reality.
The most promising project so far is CityAirbus. This vehicle will provide passengers with on-demand flight services. A four-seat personal air vehicle is going to be remotely controlled. Airbus urban air mobility division also pays a lot of attention to regulatory issues. Without proper legislation, UAM has not a chance to become fully implemented. And the support of an important player in the aviation industry is going to help urban air mobility market a lot.
Flying taxi with Uber Air
But aviation industry isn’t the only one interested in the development of UAM solutions. Urban air mobility market is going to change the way how people travel in city areas. This is the reason why its development is also a crucial matter for companies specialized in traditional road transport. As for now, the most promising one is Uber Air, which is a part of the Uber Elevate project.
The famous ride-hailing company has already reshaped the character of city travel. Its on-demand services appeared to be a strong competition to traditional taxicabs. But Uber Air is going to take this revolution to a literally new level. The idea is very similar to Airbus urban air mobility concept. Uber Elevate largely focuses on the development of personal air vehicle for on-demand travels. But while Airbus takes advantage of its experience in the aviation industry, Uber Air is going to utilize well-checked ride-hailing solutions.
Urban air mobility market startups
Both Uber Air and Airbus urban air mobility projects are still in the early stage of development. The airline mogul keeps working on new prototypes of personal aircraft and VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) vehicles. Uber already offers on-demand travels with helicopters. But those two companies are not only players on the vastly developing urban air mobility market.
The idea of UAM is also a very attractive concept for startup. Increased interest in this industry has inspired creation of many new companies strictly dedicated to that goal. From Kitty Hawk, established by Google co-funder Larry Page, to Chinese-owned Terrafugia, the vision of flying cars is attracting visionaries from all over the globe. Despite some differences, all those companies share a common goal: to leverage urban air mobility market and make personal air vehicles a standard for urban travels.
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[…] week, we talked about various companies investing in the development of the urban air mobility industry. Today, we are going to take a closer look at […]