Passenger drones to take to the skies in Dubai

Passenger drones could be seen in the skies above Dubai as early as July 2017, according to the city’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA). Speaking at the World Government Summit, Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of RTA, said the pilotless drones, designed to carry a weight of 100kg and a small suitcase, will have a range of 50 km and are on track to take off beginning in July 2017. The drones are part of Dubai’s strategy on autonomous transportation, under which 25 per cent of all journeys within the Emirat
February 15, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Passenger drones could be seen in the skies above Dubai as early as July 2017, according to the city’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA).

Speaking at the World Government Summit, Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of RTA, said the pilotless drones, designed to carry a weight of 100kg and a small suitcase, will have a range of 50 km and are on track to take off beginning in July 2017.

The drones are part of Dubai’s strategy on autonomous transportation, under which 25 per cent of all journeys within the Emirate are expected to be smart and driverless by 2030.

According to Associated Press, the Chinese-made EHang 184 has a top speed of 160 kph (100 mph), but authorities say it will be operated typically at 100 kph (62 mph). It carries only one passenger, who selects a destination on a touch-screen pad in front of the seat and the drone flies there automatically.

“This is not only a model,” al-Tayer said. “We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai's skies.”

Related Content

  • Hyperloop One unveils nine routes across Europe as part of its Global Challenge
    June 6, 2017
    Executives from Hyperloop One joined European dignitaries and policymakers in Amsterdam, Holland today at its Vision for Europe summit to discuss transforming transportation across the continent with Hyperloop.
    Read More
  • Dubai Taxi starts remote driver training
    April 24, 2020
    Online audio-visual training engages over 45 drivers daily
    Read More
  • Trust me, I'm a driverless car
    October 12, 2018
    Developing C/AV technology is the easy bit: now the vehicles need to gain people’s confidence. So does the public feel safe in driverless hands – and how much might they be willing to pay for the privilege? The Venturer consortium’s final user and technology test (Trial 3) explored levels of user trust in scenarios where a connected and autonomous vehicle (C/AV) is interacting with cyclists, pedestrians and other road users on a controlled road network. Trial 3 consisted of experimental runs in the
    Read More
  • Cycling in London grows by ten per cent
    February 2, 2015
    London’s cycling revolution accelerated last year, with 2014 seeing new records for usage of the capital’s cycle hire scheme and overall cycling on the Transport for London (TfL) road network. Across the TfL road network, London’s main roads, cycling levels in quarter 3 of 2014/15 (14 September to 6 December) were ten per cent higher than in the same quarter the previous year and the highest since records began in 2000. It was the fifth record quarter in a row. By the end of 2014/15, TfL forecasts a 12 p
    Read More

Highlighted Content