A pilotless air taxi service will be launched in Russia in ten years, said Sergei Zhukov, co-head of the AeroNet working group of the Russian National Technological Initiative (NTI).
The expert did not rule out the possibility of a more rapid development of such technologies, saying that currently there are more than a hundred projects across the globe, including Russia. Slovakia’s AeroMobil started receiving orders for flying cars back in 2017. It costs € 200,000 to develop one vehicle, which is equal to the cost of a premium class car.
“An air taxi is an unmanned short takeoff and landing aircraft. This requires runways available within the city limits, or alternatively, vertical landing is required to land on a building roof”, Sergei Zhukov explained.
Invest Foresight previously reported that companies developing self-flying air taxis include England’s Rolls-Royce, France’s Airbus, Germany’s Audi, and others. A flying taxi prototype was also assembled by specialists of the National University of Science and Technology MISiS (Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys). The test flight of an air taxi built by the Bartini Design company and showcased at the Skolkovo innovations center has so far ended in failure.