Air taxi

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History

2024

US authorities approve rules for air taxis

At the end of October 2024, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published rules for air taxis, which determine the level of qualification and training required for pilots and instructors of vertical take-off electric aircraft.

This category of civil aviation combines the features of aircraft and helicopters: these vehicles can take off and land vertically, like helicopters, and fly like planes. It is assumed that they will be used for urban air taxis, delivery of goods and other operations, for example, to transport rescuers.

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militaryaerospace.com

FAA regulations cover operational standards, including minimum flight altitude and visibility requirements, and lay the groundwork for the safe entry of new aircraft into U.S. airspace. The new rules do not affect unmanned power lifting devices or autonomous aircraft.

To ensure safety, Special Federal Aviation Training Regulations (SFARs) will be developed to facilitate certification of pilots and trainers. The new rules allow pilots to train using a single set of flight controls, whereas previously requiring two sets to be in the cockpit, for a student and instructor.

The FAA decided not to create new requirements or revise existing ones to certify the type of new aircraft. They will be designated as a special class in accordance with § 21.17 (b), which will allow the FAA to consider their unique features without looking back at the conditions for the use of other aircraft. Because vertical take-off aircraft have many configurations and are still under development, the agency did not set a specific classification^[1]

US approves rules for training and certification of flying taxi pilots

On June 7, 2023, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved rules for training and certification of flying taxi pilots. We are talking about electric devices with vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), which are considered as "future air mobility in megacities." Read more here.

2023: China issues first operating permit for driverless flying taxis

On October 13, 2023, the Civil Aviation Administration China (CAAC) issued EHang Holdings Limited an airworthiness certificate to the company for an unmanned air taxi EH216-S designed to carry two passengers. It is claimed that this is the world's first permit of this type, paving the way for commercial operation flying taxis without a driver. More. here

2022

Ministry of Emergency Situations includes unmanned air taxi and large cargo drones

The Biryuch Innovation Center and the Ivanovo Fire and Rescue Academy of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations signed a cooperation agreement. This was announced on June 27, 2022 by Efko. The parties came to an agreement on joint tests of evacuation drones, as well as Hi-Fly passenger air taxis. Read more here.

Miami authorities purchased 200 flying taxis

On March 16, 2022, flying car developer Eve Air Mobility announced the signing of a contract with Global Crossing Airlines, in which the customer will purchase 200 flying taxis for use in Miami. The next step of the city will be to work out a more detailed flight profile, solve the problems of the local community and determine logistics regarding the charging infrastructure. Read more here.

Rostec has created a system for organizing the movement of air taxi in urban conditions

The Azimut company (a subsidiary of Rostec) created and tested the Jupiter complex, designed to organize the movement of drones in an urban environment. This was reported to TAdviser on March 21, 2022 by Rostec. The technological solution will be in demand when transporting goods using drones and creating an air taxi system. Read more here.

Boeing invested 450m in joint development of flying taxis with Larry Page

On January 24, 2022, Boeing announced that it would invest $450 million in Wisk, which is developing a small unmanned air transport for short passenger flights in cities and beyond. Read more here.

2021

Mayonnaise manufacturer invested more than 1 billion rubles and created air taxi

The Biryuch innovation center (part of Efko) has completed the next stage in the development of its own unmanned vehicle. Aerotaxi is being created as part of the Healthy Innovation initiative - the Efko shareholder project. As representatives of Efko told TAdviser, at the first stage, investments in the project amounted to more than 1 billion rubles. The Hi-Fly Taxi prototype can already make unmanned flights at a range of up to 15 km and carry goods weighing up to 120 kg. Read more here.

Unmanned air taxi developer Volocopter raised €200 million

In early March 2021, the German developer of urban airmobility systems Volocopter raised an additional 200 million euros as part of Series D financing. Among the new investors: funds managed by BlackRock, Avala Capital, Atlantia, Continental, investment fund Jericho Capital, NTT, Tokyo Century and others. Read more here.

Hover flying taxi testing start in Moscow

In January 2021 To Moscow , testing of flying taxis began. On the territory of the stadium, "" Luzhniki are being tested, drones Hover developed by the company Hoversurf in collaboration with the Kazan company MVEN (created and implemented a rescue system in Hover). These unmanned aerial vehicles are capable of transporting people and heavy cargo by air. More. here

Hyundai started building 65 mini airports for electric air taxi

On September 16, 2021, Hyundai's division and British startup Urban-Air Port announced the start of construction of airports for electric air taxi around the world to support developing industries for the delivery of cargo by drones and air taxis. A total of 65 points are planned to be built. Read more here.

2020: In China, tourists began to ride an air taxi

At the end of December 2020, the Chinese company EHang, together with Greenland Hong Kong, launched a service in Zhaoqing City District (Guangdong Province, China) that allows tourists to fly by EH216 air taxi. Read more here.

2019: Analysts forecast about a billion flying taxi flights in 2030

Because of the traffic jams that are common in many cities around the world, frustrated drivers sometimes turn to heaven for help. In a few years, heaven will really be able to offer a real solution. Boston Consulting Group predicts that in 2030, people around the world will take 1 billion air taxi flights. Moreover, most of these air taxis will be able to operate without a pilot. Bosch is working on state-of-the-art sensor technology to make these flights safe, comfortable and comfortable. "The first flying taxis will take off in major cities no later than 2023. Bosch plans to play a leading role in shaping this future market, "said Harald Kroeger, president of Bosch Automotive Electronics. In the course of achieving this goal, Bosch discovered a gap in the market. Conventional aerospace technology is too expensive, cumbersome and heavy to use in autonomous flying taxis. However, current sensors, which are also used for automatic driving or in ESP course stability systems, could potentially fill this gap. That's why a team of engineers combined dozens of sensors to create a universal control unit for flying taxis.

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