Taxi Sky

For the test mission, in which the traffic authority of the town and the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed, participated, there were no airliners. Volocopter, the leading Germany based aviation and space group, is already building the ship in June under a contract with RTA. At a cruising pace (approx. 30 mph) it can fly for approx. 30 min, but up to a maximum of 100 km/h (approx. 62 mph).

RTA says that these specifications should be "further developed" in the current manufacturing release of the RTAs so that they can travel longer and quicker until the programme has evolved beyond the test period. This test is the first stage in a planned five-year cooperation between the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority and the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority to create a proper environment for the taxi services.

This effort will concentrate on solving regulatory and political problems, such as certification, and more concrete issues, such as determining the flight paths that aircraft will take and the design of take-off and landing points in the town. Assuming everything goes according to plan, Dubai could be equipped with stand-alone air taxi services as early as 2022.

RTA's show may not be the only show in the RTA, but it is one of its goals to introduce the RTA's services with the aim of presenting a working demonstration model during the 2020 edition of the RTA, or even performing airliners.