This is the first Spanish air taxi: it will transport two passengers 15 kilometers around

The Spanish company of services of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) Umiles has presented this Tuesday the first spanish air taxi, Umiles New Concept by Tecnalia, which will allow transferring up to two people in a 15-minute or 15-kilometer journey within cities.

The aerotaxi developed by Tecnalia, which has been presented during the Expodrónica drone fair held in Ifema, has the capacity to transport “up to two people”, in 15-minute flights and with a range of around 15 kilometers.

The CEO of the company, Carlos Poveda, has explained to Efe that it is a prototype designed by the Tecnalia research center, from which Umiles has bought its patent. The aircraft, which reaches a height in flight between 100 and 300 meters, although it can reach 800, it is made up of an aerodynamic cabin propelled by four drones placed in the upper and lower part of the cabin that move independently, but coordinated with each other.

This feature, which is the main innovation of the aircraft, provides more safety and comfort to the passenger “thanks to the ability to correct”.

This air taxi will begin to fly from March in several European capitals, among which is Madrid, as part of a research project, but Umiles does not expect to be able to operate with it. as a business until 2030. The company will present another ship in June 2022 that may carry up to five people, in addition to the pilot, between urban roads.

Umiles, which until now focused its business on drones, foresees that this new division will become the largest in the company thanks to a business model “based on creating vertipuertos“, that is, vertical landing centers that integrate the air network with the ground system.

The company plans to reach “to no less than 20 countries in three years”, once it is possible to operate, after some “very important” investments in the air taxi, which in the lowest of cases would be 250 million euros, according to the figures provided by Poveda.