Updated 30 January 2021 at 13:28 IST
An airport equipped with infrastructure needed to operate flying cars will start at the British city of Coventry later this year. The project, which aims at demonstrating how air taxis will work in near future, has been undertaken by a UK based startup named Urban Airport in collaboration with car giant Hyundai Motor. Photos of the futuristic airport were shared online and have now created a stir on various platforms.
Airport in a Box are proud to be working with Urban-Air Port in the development of digital urban airport infrastructure. https://t.co/wMhTkmRrt2 pic.twitter.com/kKapejCj9t
— Origin Group (@TheOriginGroup) January 28, 2021
Indeed, flying cars have been a pipedream for like 70 years now. We're not going to be living like the flipping Jetsons.
— Wayne Ellis #FBPE (@WayneEllis2) January 30, 2021
Finally! Flying cars! pic.twitter.com/QNFq8PI51V
— Jack’s Angry Liver (@HotTubPilot) January 30, 2021
$1.65 million? Dollars? Really? That’s the funding equivalent to most middle school science projects.
— Brian Thomas 🧢🌎🇺🇸 (@ScalesJax) January 30, 2021
From November, visitors to Coventry will be able to see what a flying car airport looks like and see a passenger-carrying drone and an operational electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle on the landing pad. Speaking about the unique initiative, Ricky Sandhu, the founder of urban air-port stressed that while there has been considerable progress in the development of flying cars, less has been done in the field of airports. His firm Urban air-port had won a 1.2-million-pound grant which funded the development of the airport.
While flying cars and ferries may seem to exist only in Science fiction movies, it is not the case however. Last year, Japan's SkyDrive Inc., one of the companies working on flying car projects all around the world, carried out a successful 'test flight' on with one person aboard. According to the reports, the all-new flying car sported a look similar to a slick motorcycle with propellers lifting it several feet off the ground. In addition to that, "the flying car" drifted in a netted area for four minutes. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, heading the project at the SkyDrive, said he hopes "the flying car" can be converted into a real-life product by 2023. He further acknowledged that testing it for safety was critical.
In addendum, a Slovakian company also successfully created the car that can transform into a plane. Klein Vision, which has been working on the design for the last 30 years, has finally come up with its flying car, Metro News reported. The one of its kind vehicle named Aircar recently completely its maiden flight and is ready to hit the markets later this year.
Published 30 January 2021 at 13:31 IST