Airbus CEO Tom Enders sees ‘flying car’ prototype ready by end of year

Airbus Group prepares to test a prototype for a self-piloted flying vehicle as a method of preventing gridlock on city roads by the end of the year, the aerospace group’s chief executive stated on Monday.

Airbus in 2016 formed a department called Urban Air Mobility that is checking out concepts such as an automobile to carry people or a helicopter-style car that can bring several riders. The objective would be for individuals to schedule the automobile using an app, just like car-sharing plans.

“One hundred years back, urban transport went underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to exceed ground,” Airbus CEO Tom Enders informed the DLD digital tech conference in Munich, including he hoped the Airbus might fly a presentation car for single-person transportation by the end of the year.

“We remain in an experimentation stage, we take this advancement very seriously,” he stated, including that Airbus acknowledged such innovations would need to be clean to prevent additional polluted busy cities.

He stated utilizing the skies might likewise lower expenses for city infrastructure organizers. “With flying, you do not have to put billions into concrete bridges and roads,” he stated.

Enders stated Airbus, as the world’s biggest maker of business helicopters, wished to invest to make the most of brand-new technologies such as self-driving and artificial intelligence, to introduce exactly what amounts to a period of flying cars.

“If we neglect these advancements, we will be pushed out of important sectors of business,” he stated.

A representative for company refused to state how much they were investing in urban mobility.