Singapore flying taxi tests start next year

Singapore plans to start pilotless flying taxi test flights later in 2019.

Volocopter, the company behind the Singapore project, says the drone-based vehicles have a series of “inner-urban flight tests” with the support of local authorities.

The German firm has already undertaken a one-off unmanned test in Dubai, and individuals have also flown in it in Germany, the ABC reports.

“The city is a true pioneer in technology and city development,” is how Volocopter chief executive Florian Reuter describes Singapore.

“We are confident this is another exciting step to make air taxi services a reality.”

Singapore was the first country to begin trialling driverless taxis in 2016. Last year, it revealed plans to introduce “robot buses and shuttles” starting in 2020, newspaper The Straits Times reports.

Though the prototype resembles a helicopter, its drone-like capabilities mean it can be operated from the ground or by a pilot, carrying two passengers for about 30km.

Other electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft are being tested around the world.

For instance, Air New Zealand is working with Zephyr Airworks on a self-piloted air taxi service in New Zealand, as announced in EVtalk on October 16.