WELCOME TO YOUR FUTURE COMMUTE

JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, IT FELT LIKE FLYING CARS WERE STILL A DISTANT SCI-FI FUTURE WE COULD ONLY DREAM ABOUT. BUT INVESTMENT HAS INCREASED RAPIDLY, AND A NUMBER OF COMPANIES ARE NOW BUILDING AIR TAXIS TO MAKE OUR CITY JOURNEYS FASTER, EASIER AND CLEANER

- IAN TAYLOR

It’s hard to decide whether flying taxis are arriving very late or extremely early. On the one hand, the promise of airborne cabs zipping between skyscrapers has been a science fiction staple for decades. On the other, it wasn’t long ago that air taxis were filed in the ‘we’ll see’ folder of future technology, alongside hoverboards and hotels on the Moon.

But after years of wishful thinking, it’s suddenly happening. Investment in advanced aerial mobility (as the sector is known) has more than tripled in the last year, and analysts at Morgan Stanley expect the global air taxi market to be worth £2.7tr by 2050.

Early or late, the future is en-route and will be coming in to land sooner than the majority of people realise. A number of companies around the world are currently preparing eVTOL vehicles (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles), which could revolutionise the way we get around big cities.

Quiet, comfortable and carbon-free, eVTOLs promise to rise above congested roads, easing urban transport issues while getting passengers to their destinations in record time. Meanwhile, regulators on the ground are working hard to prepare the rules and infrastructure required to make this new form of transport feasible.

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