China to launch the World's first "Flying Taxi"

With vehicular traffic being a major problem in cities across the world, need for new viable options to ease the issue is currently more than ever. Big Indian cities, especially metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are often in news about the traffic snarls encountered by city-dwellers, and the time they spend on the roads amid traffic jams.

Trying to answer the traffic issue with a futuristic solution, China has approved “flying taxis” to function in the backdrop of cityscapes of Guangdong, a bustling southern province of the country. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has awarded a “type certificate” to the world’s first electrical vertical take-off and landing, manufactured by a Guangzhou-based company Ehang.

EH216-S AAV, the vehicle which received the type certificate, is a fully autonomous drone designed to carry two passengers.

With this, the self-driving air taxis, that are seen in sci-fi movies across languages, are one more step closer to reality.