Public ‘should be consulted’ over flying taxis for rich

Ministers told they must assess attitudes to drone ‘ferries’ that would only be available to the wealthy

THE public should be canvassed by the Government to see if “flying taxis” should be allowed to ferry passengers around the skies. Advisers in the Department

for Transport (DFT) have recommended that ministers “explore the current level of public acceptance around ‘flying taxis’ and the role that the Government and industry should play in addressing public perception”.

The report from the Dft’s science advisory council said ministers should examine the “potential behavioural changes required for these technologies to be accepted. Any accident ... has the potential to result in a decline of the industry so it was recommended that work should be carried out to

develop an evidence base on public acceptance”.

In a report published yesterday, Position Statement on Future of Flight, the group noted the success of drones, but it added that “globally congestion is an increasing problem and this means that, if personal air travel is to become a reality, we have to keep pace with demand and new patterns of travel”.

The “personal air mobility vehicles” were “likely to attract the upper end of the market” and only be available to the wealthiest passengers and they “are

likely to be fully autonomous and this will present challenges around public acceptance, as is the case with autonomous road vehicles”.

It added that “revolutionising commuter passenger air transport using short take-off and landing and vertical take-off and landing applications is also on the horizon as these require a significantly smaller infrastructure footprint and are being developed with autonomy in mind”.

The group stressed that “as a consequence of these new modes of transport,

there will be a need to ensure that regulations can adapt to support these developing technologies”.

Earlier this month, Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace, a technology startup founded in 2016, built and flew the UK’S first electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

Equipped with four propellers at the front and back of a helicopter-shaped body, the vehicle’s vertical take-off and landing technology would allow it to travel between exact locations, without a pilot having to make diversions to

an airport. The company obtained permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate the aircraft and in June flew a test flight in Kemble, Glos.

It is currently capable of a five-minute flight at a top speed of 50mph. Vertical Aerospace has since flown a dozen test flights and it plans to launch an intercity air taxi service by 2022.

The DFT said: “One of the themes to our aviation strategy is enabling new technology and innovation and we continue to explore the role of government in preparing for these trends.”