Video: Check out your next taxi from Airbus that flies vertically upwards
A month ago, we talked about the Vahana flying taxi concept by A3 – Airbus’ Silicon Valley outpost responsible for all future-forward aviation projects. We were only able to talk about certain design renders of the aircraft and the concept behind it. However, A3 has released a video that shows the concept aircraft in its natural habitat – cities.
Vahana - Passenger Experience from Vahana on Vimeo.
The video shows the Vahana aircraft tackling the congestion of cities with ease. It utilises a Vertical Take Off and Landing system (VTOL) to easily pick up and drop passengers in tight spots of the city. A Vahana air taxi can be called by a smartphone app, just like the OLA and UBER apps. Once a booking is done, Vahana will fly down to a Vertiport (a new term for air taxi helipads). After the passenger boards the aircraft, Vahana automatically performs a pre-flight check (safety gets preference over urgency) and takes off to the skies for reaching the destination.
While it’s airborne, Vahana will look out for obstacles such as birds and other aircraft and adjusts its path accordingly. The data related to the obstacle will be sent to the network of other Vahana aircraft, leading them to adjust accordingly.
The Vahana air taxi vision will be shown at the Paris Air Show, alongside Airbus’ current line-up of jetliners.
