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Trial Operations of Flying Taxis, Cargo Drones Will Begin in England This Year
Trial operations of flying taxis and cargo drones will begin in Coventry, England, before the end of the year as part of a plan to develop “aerial roads” for unmanned flights in urban areas.
The project, backed by 1.2 million pounds ($1.7 million) of government funds, involves construction of a centrally located hub that will host demonstration flights across the city of almost 400,000 people, according to Ricky Sandhu, founder of Urban-Air Port, which will operate the ground infrastructure.
While plans for flying taxis and logistics drones are gathering pace around the world, most will initially avoid heavily urbanized areas, such as Volocopter’s bid to provide coastal flights around Singapore and Lilium’s push to serve 10 boutique hubs across Florida. The UK plan will tap an air-traffic-management system devised by Altitude Angel to allow operators to safely transit cities.