Plane? No it’s a f lying Uber

Firm plans to launch ‘air taxis’ by 2020

UBER has said it will make flying taxis a reality in three years.

The firm said its smartphone app could then be used to book a ride on the small, helicopter-like vehicles, flying between ‘sky ports’.

Yesterday it said it was working with Nasa and aviation companies on ‘air taxis’ and planning routes for the service, which will launch in Los Angeles.

The electric aircraft will carry four passengers and travel at speeds of 200mph, Uber said.

Chief product officer Jeff Holden said this would cut a 25-mile journey, roughly the distance from central London to Luton, to a few minutes.

He likened the taxis to the flying cars seen in the 1982 film Blade Runner, set in a dystopian version of LA in 2019.

‘Blade Runner was only one year off,’ Mr Holden added.

He said the firm aims to make the transport system affordable and commonly-used before the 2028 LA Olympics.

The city was chosen by Uber because it is the most congested in the world. At technology con- ference Web Summit in Lisbon, Mr Holden said the vehicles would let people ‘ fly over LA traffic’.

He added: ‘ We want to make this less expensive than driving your own car … These all- electric bad boys fly at 150 to 250mph. You can imagine what this does to commutes. A journey that takes you an hour or an hour and a half becomes a few minutes – that’s pretty exciting.

‘ We have 65million monthly users who would be ready to push a button and order a flight, today.’ Mr Holden said it would not ‘just be a luxury for the rich’, adding: ‘We would not want to build this if it wasn’t for everyone … With Nasa’s co- operation we will be able to introduce this very quickly.’

Uber has signed a contract with Nasa allowing it to operate in lowaltitude airspace.

The taxis will have pilots to start with but could later become driverless, Mr Holden said. The scheme in LA will start with about four ‘sky ports’, such as helipads.