Dubai to test run world’s first automated aerial taxis by end of 2017

The trial run of the world’s first automated aerial taxis (AAT) is expected to start by the end of 2017, a local media, the gulfnews.com website, reported on Wednesday.

The media outfit said Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was collaborating with German firm Volocopter, which specialises in manufacturing Autonomous Air Vehicles (AAV) on the AAT project.

“Over the next five years, the two-seater AAT will undergo test flights and safety checks.

“The RTA and Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) will be working on rules and regulations for the new transport system, it said.

The AAT, capable of achieving maximum airspeed of 100 kilometres per hour, will have a maximum continuous flight time of 30 minutes.

Powered by electricity, the AAT will be equipped with 18 rotors and nine independent battery systems which could be charged within 40 minutes, according to the report.

If approved for use, the aerial taxis will change the skyline of the modern city in the United Arab Emirates, and the way its residents travel in future.