Airbus will test its new “Sky taxi” later this year
With more people moving into the cities gridlock is becoming the bane of most people's lives, Airbus and others, including Uber propose taking to the skies but people with vertigo should watch out
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2017) 'Airbus will test its new “Sky taxi” later this year', 311 Institute, 20 January. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/airbus-announces-plans-to-test-its-sky-taxi-by-the-end-of-the-year/ (Accessed: 8 October 2026).
Airbus has been eyeing the increasingly interesting, and viable, flying taxi space for some time now, ever since it ran an experimental air taxi business with Uber for the Sundance Festival in 2016. Then, when Uber announced last October that they wanted to begin operating their own commercial sky taxi business in 2021 Airbus were there again as a potential partner. Now, according to the company's CEO, it looks like the company's ready to push the envelope and start testing it's latest flying taxi concept dubbed "Vahana" later this year.
Vahana, which Airbus call a "Personal Flight Vehicle," is basically Airbus' answers to roads and traffic jams and the company argues that rather than spending billions of dollars on pouring new concrete for roads and motorways, then watching traffic sit idle on them is a waste of both time and money. And to give their argument credence they offer up Sao Paulo in Brazil as a case in point where in 2014 the traffic jams were so bad they stretched 344 km. So they have a point, and why sit in a traffic jam when you can zoom around the skies instead?
“One hundred years ago, urban transport went underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to go above ground,” said Airbus’s CEO Tom Enders at a tech conference in Munich yesterday, adding that while this was an experiment, the company is taking it “very seriously.”
Airlines are apparently losing their appetite for expensive aircraft so instead Airbus appears to be branching out and turning its attention, and its vast R&D skills, to smaller scale urban transport instead where it will inevitably have to compete with other new market entrants including EHang, a Chinese competitor who recently successfully tested their own sky taxi - and who are also partnering with Uber.
Vahana, which Enders proposes will be hailed using an Uber style app, will have multiple propellers, take off vertically and seat a single passenger, although the final models will accommodate more people more, and while the space is still emerging regulators such as the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are slowly warming to the idea, so watch this airspace, er, I mean space.
What this means for your organisation
Roads are the argument.
Airbus contends that spending billions on new concrete and then watching traffic sit idle wastes time and money, citing jams stretching hundreds of kilometres in one city. The case is economic, not novel. Transport planners should compare the cost of road building against alternatives.
A core business is softening.
Airlines are described as losing their appetite for expensive aircraft, which is part of why the firm is turning its research skills to small scale urban transport. New markets are being entered from weakness as well as strength. Investors should watch where incumbents redirect their research.
Regulators are warming slowly.
Aviation authorities in the US and UK are described as slowly warming to the idea, with hailing done through an app. Approval, not engineering, sets the pace. Leaders should track regulatory posture as the main timing signal.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- How does road building compare with alternatives in our region?
- Where are incumbents redirecting research because their core is weakening?
- Which regulators set the timing for our plans?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
With more people moving into the cities gridlock is becoming the bane of most people's lives, Airbus and others, including Uber propose taking to the skies but people with vertigo should watch out
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Airbus airbusgroup.com
- My Kind Of Flyover airbusgroup.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 20 January 2017. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2017). Airbus will test its new “Sky taxi” later this year. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/airbus-announces-plans-to-test-its-sky-taxi-by-the-end-of-the-year/
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