Airbus CEO sees 'flying car' prototype ready by end of year
Airbus CEO sees 'flying car' prototype ready by end of
year
Mon Jan 16, 2017 | 7:05am EST
Airbus Group plans to test a prototype for a self-piloted
flying car as a way of avoiding gridlock on city roads by the end of the year,
the aerospace group's chief executive said on Monday.
Airbus last year formed a division called Urban Air
Mobility that is exploring concepts such as a vehicle to transport individuals
or a helicopter-style vehicle that can carry multiple riders. The aim would be
for people to book the vehicle using an app, similar to car-sharing schemes.
"One hundred years ago, urban transport went
underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to go above
ground," Airbus CEO Tom Enders told the DLD digital tech conference in
Munich, adding he hoped the Airbus could fly a demonstration vehicle for
single-person transport by the end of the year.
"We are in an experimentation phase, we take this
development very seriously," he said, adding that Airbus recognized such
technologies would have to be clean to avoid further polluting congested
cities.
He said using the skies could also reduce costs for city
infrastructure planners. "With flying, you don't need to pour billions
into concrete bridges and roads," he said.
Enders said Airbus, as the world's largest maker of
commercial helicopters, wanted to invest to make the most of new technologies
such as autonomous driving and artificial intelligence, to usher in what
amounts to an era of flying cars.
"If we ignore these developments, we will be pushed
out of important segments of the business," he said.
A spokesman for Airbus declined to say how much the
company was investing in urban mobility.
(Reporting by Eric Auchard; Writing by Victoria Bryan;
Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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