Ehang 184 ‘passenger drone’
Flying cars are ready for take off
IN THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE, if latest developments are anything to go by, the term ‘ground transportation’ may become redundant, with a host of companies competing to develop what are horribly known as ‘roadable aircraft’ – a posh name for what the rest of us would call ‘flying cars’. Uber has just announced that it’s developing a range of flying cars. It plans to trial its ‘UberAIR’ service in Dubai and Dallas in 2020. If successful, Uber will have a network of flying taxis globally. It also reckons that the journeys will be much cheaper than the current land- based ones.
drivers; the insurance implications, and much more. Somewhat incongruously, some travel
managers also argued that the rise and rise of ride-hailing services appeared to erode their traveller-tracking abilities – which is a bit like saying that an employee can’t use the London Underground, let alone take a bus, because their precise location cannot be pinpointed. The app-based service providers’ response
was impressive. More than 15 of them – including the likes of Cabfind, Addison Lee and partner Tristar, Groundscope and Uber – exhibited at last February’s Business Travel Show, indicating a clear ambition to meet the needs of the corporate travel community and assuage its fears.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
INCLUSION IN POLICIES Faced with a quality product coupled with high traveller demand, travel managers are overcoming their earlier qualms. In January this year, a GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) survey – conducted in partnership with American Express – sug- gested that 50 per cent of corporate travel policies now allow employees to use ride- hailing services. This was up from six months earlier, when
44 per cent of policies gave the green light to the use of the likes of Uber, Lyft and others. The findings, based on a poll of more
than 3,200 corporate travellers from Aus- tralia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, the UK and the US, also indicated that the number of road warriors using ride-
Dubai is also currently working with
drone manufacturer Ehang on an autonomous flying passenger service. Most of the other big players, including Airbus Industrie and German companies Lilium and e-volo, are working on what are, in effect, tiny self-drive helicopters which are not intended for – or capable of – road use. However, in June, one Pavel
Brezina, owner of a Czech engineering company, ‘launched’ the two-seater GyroDrive helicopter-cum-car by driving it into the centre of Prague.
BBT July/August 2017
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