Dubai: As the head of Dubai’s Roads and Transportation Agency announced at the word today, the Chinese E Hang 184 passenger drone will begin “regular operations” around the futuristic city in July of 2017.
“This is not only a model, we have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai’s skies,” said Mattar al-Tayer, head of Dubai’s transportation agency.
Dubai isn’t the first city to show an interest in using the Ehang, first unveiled at CES in 2016, as part of its transport system. Las Vegas announced last summer that it would start trialing the drones for public use.
The Ehang is electric-powered and can travel for about 31 miles with a person and bag that weigh up to 100kg. It can go at speeds of up to 63 miles an hour and takes two hours to charge fully.
To call for a flying taxi all passengers will need to do is enter their destination into an app. The drone then maps the route and transports the passenger to their destination. It can’t fly directly but has to hop from one set landing spot to another.