Air taxi — the most comfortable way to travel

Urban air mobility is a great opportunity to make city travels easier. Ait taxi is one of the most promising ideas related to this concept. How close we are to make flying taxis a real thing?

Who wouldn’t like to take an air taxi instead of sticking to the ground in a car? Urban air mobility (UAM) is the concept which enables air travels in the city landscape. Number of real-life implementations of the air taxi idea is growing every year. Let’s look how this fascinating concept works in practice, and how it can change our cities in the near future.

Air taxi – the future of the city transport

Nowadays, taxicabs are an integral part of every large city. They allow us to travel easily through urban areas without any concern. A taxicab is a perfect choice for those of us who prefer fast and reliable transport. It is also a last resort in some unexpected situations when we need immediate transport. Whenever we are late for a meeting or miss the bus, taxis are our salvation in a face of unexpected events.

The air taxi takes this idea one step further, by eliminating inconveniences of ground vehicles. By utilizing modern technologies, the urban air mobility industry aims to provide on-demand flying services in cities. Soon we will be able to call an unmanned personal aircraft to carry us on the other side of the city. Can you imagine a better way to avoid a traffic jam?

Precursors of the flying taxi 

Right now, flying taxis may seem like a science fiction concept. However, the number of real-life implementations of this idea is growing every year. Some of them, like Linear Air Taxi, have been operating since 2004. The company focuses on on-demand flies operated by light aircraft.

Another example is Uber Air, an on-demand flying service developed by a famous ride-hailing company, Uber. The idea of the initiative is to elevate city travels up to the sky. Right now, Uber Air offers on-demand flying services operated by helicopters on some limited routes. However, the company keeps working on their own personal air vehicles.

How to make air taxi available for everyone?

Uber Air, Linear Air Taxi and other similar projects lay the foundation for a further urban air mobility development. However, their services are still hard-to-reach for a large part of our society. The main cause of this situation lies in used vehicles. As for now, air taxi services rely on traditional aircraft. They are expensive to use, which translates for limited availability and high prices.

The best solution to resolve this problem is to replace traditional aircraft with more efficient personal air vehicles. Lighter, smaller and powered by electric motors, the air taxi of the future will be a mode of transport accessible for everyone. But how long will we have to wait to travel by modern urban air taxi?

We already have functional personal air vehicles, like VoloCity produced by Volocopter. Uber Air is aiming to launch their on-demand autonomous air taxi by 2023. All we need right now is proper legislation. Without appropriate regulations, urban air mobility service won’t be able to operate in the city air space. However, we are on the right path to achieve it.