Pilot-less air taxi takes off in Vienna demonstration flight
04/04/2019 14:18
By Kirsti Knolle
VIENNA, April 4 (Reuters) - As carmakers push ahead with
self-driving vehicles, an Austrian aerospace company and its
Chinese partner showed off their pilot-less "flying taxi" for
the first time in Europe on Thursday.
The drone's 16 propellers hummed loudly as it rose above the
pitch at Vienna's Generali Arena, home to soccer club Austria
Wien. The slim plane, which weighs 340 kg (750 pounds), circled
in the air briefly and came down within a few minutes.
The EHang 216, which can seat two passengers, has been
tested comprehensively and is essentially ready for mass
production, said Derrick Xiong, co-founder of Chinese drone
maker EHang.
Joining the race for new autonomous aircraft services that
do not require runways, EHang entered a strategic partnership
with Austria's FACC, owned by Chinese aerospace group AVIC
000768.SZ , last year, aiming to offer short-haul services for
passengers, industrial equipment and urgent medical deliveries.
The drone can fly at up to 150 km per hour (90 mph) for
almost half an hour, FACC Chief Executive Officer Robert
Machtlinger said. "It can travel between 50 and 70 kilometres
depending on the payload."
The passenger cabin is small, with leg room that taller
passengers might find less-than adequate, an Austrian
photographer who took part in a demonstration flight told
Reuters.
FACC says it has already received several thousand orders
for the 300,000 euro ($336,000) drone, with the highest demand
in China.
Competitors working toward offering autonomous flying cars
early in the next decade range from aerospace giant Airbus
AIR.PA to Uber IPO-UBER.N , and AeroMobil.
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"Technically... urban mobility, flying without a pilot is
possible, it's not a dream, it's existing," said Machtlinger.
"What is hindering us to go into larger volumes is
regulation," he added. A future legal framework for autonomous
flying vehicles should regulate communication with other planes
and helicopters and provide traffic rules, he said.
Austria supports international efforts to quickly establish
the necessary regulation, said transport minister Norbert Hofer.
"I hope that Austria will be the place where thousands of
these drones, of these air taxis will be built and I hope that
very soon we will see a lot of these air taxis in the air,"
Hofer said.
($1 = 0.8918 euros)
(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle
Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
((kirsti.knolle@thomsonreuters.com; +43 1 53112 255; Reuters
Messaging: kirsti.knolle.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
www.reuters.com))