Back in the day (whenever that is for you), people used to imagine that we’ll get flying cars in the future. Think about it, one day, flying cars will be a necessity for our great-grandchildren. Who needs roads when you can just hover your way to your destination? Then again, you’d need to look out for air traffic.
Though we still have a long way to go, we are getting closer to achieving that future. For now, instead of owning your own flying car, how about going for a ride in a flying taxi? Yup, that’s ride. Tony Fernandes recently shared his latest project to develop an urban air mobility platform in the city. Here’s what we know:
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes posted a series of photos on his Instagram sharing with the world the latest project for the AirAsia Super App and Air Asia Ride; Electric Air Taxi. More specifically, these aircrafts are known as the VX4 eVTOL made by Vertical Aerospace. AirAsia is apparently partnering up with Vertical Aerospace to create a platform for these air taxis to be used in Malaysia.
This project has actually been reported back in February but nothing was confirmed at the time but now the 58-year-old has confirmed that AirAsia has signed a memorandum of understanding to lease about 100 of the VX4 eVTOL aircrafts. The AirAsia CEO posed together with Stephen Fitzpatrick, the founder of Vertical Aerospace as proof that they’ve sealed the deal.
According to Tony’s Instagram post, customers will be able to book these electric air taxis through the AirAsia Super App and Air Asia Ride app. How will it be done? There’s currently no specific information on when this service will be operational and if customers need to go a specific landing area to board their ride.
What we do know is the distance these things can travel. It will take about 17 minutes to travel from KLIA 2 to Kuala Lumpur city and Bangkok Airport to Bangkok city in 11 minutes. That’s actually pretty impressive. What do you guys think? Will you be using the air taxis to go to your destination?
Sources: Instagram, TheVocket (1)(2)
