Toulouse. A flying taxi to circulate above traffic jams: the Airbus project presents itself
Through Hugues-Olivier Dumez
Published on
Welcome to “The Fifth Element”, this science fiction film directed by Luc Besson. After developing the CityAirbus demonstrator, with vertical take-off, which looks like a hand spinner, Airbus unveiled, Tuesday, September 21, 2021, a new electric flying taxi project called CityAirbus Nextgen.
Objective: certification in 2025
The device could enter service in urban areas from 2025.Airbus Summit, an event dedicated to sustainable aviation that takes place in Toulouse until September 22.
If this project is inspired by the first CityAirbus, it is also the result of the Vahana demonstrator. These two prototypes were developed and tested by Airbus from 2016 to 2020, to create a new mode of air transport in the city.
#AirbusSummit #toulouse Airbus announces that it is working on a new prototype for its City Airbus flying taxi. Objective: certification in 2025. pic.twitter.com/ah6cwmddZ9
– Hugues-Olivier Dumez (@Hugodumez) September 21, 2021
Fully electric
This fully electric device is designed to carry four people.
With this flying taxi project, Airbus intends to contribute to the creation of a new market which “sustainably integrates urban air mobility into cities while responding to concerns environmental and social “, Explain Bruno Even, CEO ofAirbus helicopters.
CityAirbus NextGen is currently in the design phase and the first flight is scheduled for 2023.
“In the third dimension”
Imagine. From Toulouse airport, your Airbus A320 lands at Paris-Orly. From there, a flying taxi allows you to reach the capital in complete safety, in less than ten minutes, avoiding traffic jams.
“We are offering a new means of transport, in the third dimension, with zero emissions “, highlighted Markus May, for Airbus Urban Mobility. “The technologies available today are mature.” Flight tests have “shown that this transport solution was viable” car “complementary to what we have today”.
The solution against traffic jams
Faced with traffic jams and the saturation of public transport, Airbus therefore offers an alternative. “Our ambition is to democratize this service transport ”, insists Markus May. “It’s like the first car or the first cell phone. Initially, it is a niche market. Then the service is deployed! “
At the moment, Airbus is unable to indicate the cost of such a flight. “It’s still too early,” replied Markus May. Initially, the CityAirbus NextGen project is designed with a pilot “to obtain certification”. Ultimately, the flying taxi should be able to move without a pilot.
“An ecosystem” to be elucidated
What about the infrastructures to develop such a network? CityAirbus NextGen indeed assumes “an ecosystem” to develop, admits Markus May. The idea is to be able to “connect to a metro station, a car park or an airport”. The device could also be used “for medical purposes” to transport injured people, for example.
Airbus works with several cities in Europe, in particular with Paris and Munich. Partnerships have already been established in this direction with the RATP, the region Ile-de-France and Paris Airport.
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