Airbus unveils sleek new contender for urban mobility market

September 22nd 2021

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Airbus has unveiled a sleek electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) urban taxi that could be operating above Asian cities as early as 2025. Read More » The new CityAirbus features fixed wings, a V-Shaped tail and eight electrically powered propellers. The European manufacturer’s latest candidate for the emerging urban mobility market can carry eight passengers at cruise speeds of up to 120kmh with a range of 80 kilometres. Optimised for hover and cruise efficiency, it has no moving surfaces or tilting parts during transition. It’s also quiet — the aircraft is designed to operate at 65 decibels during flyover and below 70 decibels during landing. These noise levels are in the same general range as conversational speech, a shower or a dishwasher. “We have learned a lot from the test campaigns with our two demonstrators, CityAirbus and Vahana,” Airbus Helicopters chief executive, Bruno Even, told the manufacturer’s “Pioneering Sustainable Aerospace” summit in Toulouse. “The CityAirbus NextGen combines the best from both worlds with the new architecture striking the right balance between hover and forward flight. The prototype is paving the way for certification expected around 2025.” Also featured at Tuesday’s sustainability summit was a demonstration of energy-efficient flying orchestrated by Airbus, Air France and French air navigation service provider, DNSA. A Paris-Toulouse flight was the first of 1000 demonstration flights aimed at showcasing potential fuel and CO₂ emissions savings under the Single European SKY ATM Research Joint Undertaking “Albatross” project. Albatross takes a universal approach to reducing CO₂ emissions that involves stakeholder groups such as air traffic controllers, network managers, airports and industry. Tuesday’s flight included operational tweaks such as precision approach procedures, continuous climb and descent as well as route optimisation.