Dubai wants to use quadcopters as flying taxis

Dubai wants to start deploying a drone that is able to transport a person over a distance of up to 50 kilometers from July. The autonomous flying drone, dubbed the EHang 184, has already completed a test flight over the Burj al-Arab skyscraper.

The drone, a Chinese-made quadcopter, can carry a passenger weighing no more than 100 kilograms. Once the passenger has boarded, they can select a destination on a touchscreen, after which the quadcopter will automatically take off and fly to the location completely autonomously. The drone has an on-board battery that allows a maximum flight time of one and a half hours or a range of 50 kilometers. The top speed is 160 kilometers per hour; the average cruising speed will be about 100 kilometers per hour, the AP reports.

Mattar al-Tayer, the head of Dubai’s traffic institute, says the drone is not just a concept model. According to him, test flights have actually been made in the airspace of Dubai. The drone is currently on display at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emir of Dubai, said last year that he wants about 25 percent of all passenger traffic in the city of Dubai to be carried out by autonomously operating vehicles by 2030. To achieve that goal, an agreement has already been signed with EasyMile, the French maker of the EZ10, an electric shuttle bus for ten people that will drive without a driver.