Many of us are aware of the ongoing research on Air Taxi or Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing Vehicle (eVTOL) all over the world. In fact, with the rate at which traffic congestion is increasing on a daily basis, it has become a big challenge for urban people to reach their destination on time. And so experiments have begun with this experiment to find a solution. They will transport people to non-polluting destinations, such as air travel within cities, while being battery-based, there is no need to pollute.
Meanwhile, so that the people of India can enjoy the full benefits of this air taxi, Gurugram company Fly Blade has joined hands with Eve Air Mobility or EAM, a branch of the famous Brazilian aerospace company Embraer.
The reason for this move is to allow air taxis to dominate the country's skies within the next five years. In this context, Fly Blade India MD Amit Dutt said in a statement, “We hope to fly Eve Air Taxis commercially in Indian skies by 2026. India will be one of the first countries in the world to introduce air taxis.
EAM has signed an agreement with Fly Blade to fly the air taxis for two lakh hours a year. This means the urban air mobility company will deploy a total of 200 air taxis, which will fly 1,000 hours a year in Indian skies. Each air taxi costs 3 million dollars. In Indian currency the amount is about 24.4 crore rupees. In this context, Andre Duarte Steyn, Co-Executive Officer of EAM said, "The Indian market is important for urban air mobility." Key says they will be delivered in India by the first week or month of 2026.
Initially air taxis with seating capacity of four passengers will be controlled by one pilot. They will also be used in the transportation of goods. eVTOLs will weigh 2.5-3 tonnes. And a range of up to 100 km will be available, Sten said. In the second phase, EAM plans to deploy six-seater air taxis. Meanwhile, Fly Blade has set a target of building a suitable ecosystem for air taxi launches in India within the next three years.
These include Vertiport (Airport for eVTOL) and Air Navigation System for safe flying, Dutta said. Incidentally, Blade currently offers helicopter services between Mumbai, Pune and Shirdi. According to a report, common people can avail this service for Rs 10,000.