Berliner Morgenpost reports that Airbus plans to have its four seat CityAirbus Next Gen fly this year.
“Our goal for 2024 is to have the CityAirbus NextGen take off for the first time,” according to Balkiz Sarihan, Airbus manager at the Donauwörth location, where the eVTOL is being developed. The company originally planned the first flight for the the end of 2023 or the start 2024, but this has been delayed according to the report.
Once the ground tests have been completed, it will be taken into the air – probably secured again by steel cables like its predecessor. “The first flight will be unmanned and controlled from a control station,” Sarihan was quoted as saying. The CityAirbus should be able to fly autonomously but the first commercial units will be piloted.
For more information
https://www.morgenpost.de/wirtschaft/article241681740/Airbus-entwickelt-Prototyp-Wann-hebt-das-erste-Lufttaxi-ab.html
(Image: Airbus)