How to hail a flying taxi

It won’t be long before you can book a flying cab to the airport. A number of companies are testing their electric air taxis right now in cities worldwide, as the future of short-distance Urban Air Mobility (UAM) travel prepares for takeoff.

In November Volocopter completed the ‘first ever crewed public test flight of a fully electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi in South Korea’ – with zero emissions in flight – at Gimpo International Airport.

“We are extremely honoured to conduct the nation’s first crewed public eVTOL test flight and prove yet again that the future of air taxis is here and now,” said Florian Reuter, CEO, Volocopter.

Volocopter has been developing a range of electric drone-like aircraft, from one to four seaters, as well as unmanned delivery drones over the past decade. And in recent months, it has been carrying out test flights in places including South Korea, Singapore, Italy, and America, as the company steps up its plans to bring the service to market.

Lilium is another leading pioneer in the sector, and has a suite of zero emission electric planes that have been designed to offer cleaner mobility solutions.

Daniel Wiegand, Co-Founder and CEO of Lilium said: “In 2015 with the clear vision that the decarbonization of aviation is inevitable, we set out to build a team and product that would radically transform the way the world moves. Six years and five generations of technology demonstrator aircraft later, we’re closer than ever to this goal.”

Lilium has been conducting tests on the latest generation of its technology in recent weeks and plans to launch its service to the public in 2024.