The Coming Of Air Taxis: Here Is Hyundai-Uber Vision

The flying taxi will ride at least 60 miles

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019, is turning out to be an exciting space with lots of bravado promises. If some of these come to be, then the world should be ready for some of the most mesmerizing innovations of our time.

Among announcements that have captured world headlines so far is the collaboration between Hyundai and Uber to bring around the first air taxi. In the bold statement, the companies see these flying vehicles hitting the skies as early as 2023. According to the Hyundai spokesman, the vision is to have the taxis ride autonomously in the long term, but a human pilot will be needed to fly the air taxi in the initial stages.

Of course, this is not space for which these companies are pioneering. Others such as Boeing have even tested their prototype. Also, Google Co-founder Larry Page has invested heavily in several smaller startups, including Kitty Hawk and Opener, all of which are developing flying car technologies.

This is undeniably a futuristic approach and a solution that will be timely, whenever it comes. However, lots there are lots of underlying hurdles that must be overcome before we finally get there.

At the very least the companies have to deal with software to safely fly the air taxis. Again, the industry will have to determine lots of policy issues and agree on several standards.

Ultimately, these companies are opening yet another avenue of really competitive business and a space that harbors great potential.