Engineers are dealing one-tonne vehicles transporting a pilot and four passengers at an evaluation of 800 to 1,000 metres. A network of electric aircraft Uber Technologies Inc is establishing with Embraer SA is likely to launch commercially in 2024, the Brazilian plane maker's chief executive said on Friday, adding a year to the latest estimate from the ride-hailing company.
It comes a month after Uber Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said a paid; intra-city flying taxi service could start by 2023. Engineers are projecting one-tonne vehicles transporting a pilot and four passengers at an altitude of 800 to 1,000 metres, Embraer Chief Executive Paulo Cesar de Souza said. The companies would soon determine blueprints of the proposed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, said Souza.
The business model and financial commitments of the partnership have not been defined, Souza said. The aircraft will be powered by batteries that can charge in as little as five minutes between flights, he added. The project has provided an outlet for engineering resources at Embraer, whose newest planes — a military cargo jet and a new generation of passenger jets — are well into their flight testing campaigns. Some 65 international delegations have shown interest in the KC-390 military transport aircraft that will enter the Brazilian Air Force next year, Souza said. The transition to a new commercial jet line-up is pressuring operations, but Souza said Embraer would meet the bottom end of its 2017 profit margin and aircraft delivery targets.
Source: Trtworld
