SUMMARY: Kenya Airways has agreed to offer flying taxis in Nairobi. This is a bid to be the market leader in this emerging mode of transportation. The cars are projected to reduce travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the city centre by up to six minutes.
The East African country of Kenya has come one step closer to having flying taxis in Nairobi. To the Wakandaland, this is a new piece of development news. This is in collaboration with the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.
This is a bid to be the market leader in this emerging mode of transportation. The cars are projected to reduce travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Nairobi’s city center in just six minutes, according to Business Daily.
A partnership between Embraer and Fahari Aviation
Last week, Embraer inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya Airways, through the national carrier’s newly formed subsidiary Fahari Aviation, for the establishment of the Brazilian company’s Electric Vertical Aircraft (EVA) in Nairobi beginning in 2025.
Fahari is Kenya Airways’ new unmanned aerial vehicle wing, which has already opened a few unmanned aerial vehicle schools to train eager Kenyans.
Vertical Electric Aircraft
Embraer’s EVAs can carry a load of 250 kilograms (about two to three persons, plus luggage) at 400 kilometers per hour with a range of 250 kilometers per flight. The planes are totally self-contained, requiring no human pilots and relying on automatic systems such as radar, lidar, and 12 onboard camera sensors to fly. There will be one pilot on board when they launch in 2025, according to Embraer.
The vehicles are also entirely electric, which is a significant component of the agreement, which is based on the necessity to integrate zero-emission electric flying taxis or planes into Kenya’s transportation industry. Flying taxis would also provide an alternative mode of transportation for passengers in a hurry, according to Andre Stein, CEO of Embraer’s Urban Air Mobility Solutions division.
Kenya is getting ready to take off into the future with flying taxis
According to Stein, the Embraer-Fahari agreement will also create the framework for “a foundation of concepts and ways to securely build EVA across the country in the future years.”
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Kenya Airways to enable new sorts of air mobility for people and goods across the region. Innovative and widely available urban air transportation solutions will help democratize mobility by making it more accessible, affordable, and giving communities more options,” Stein continues.
“We are excited to provide more sustainable and community-friendly air access for people in this region with the help of our aircraft and aerospace services, as well as Kenya Airways’ innovative approach to air mobility.”
According to Allan Kilavuka, CEO of Kenya Airways, Fahari Aviation is at the forefront of researching current technology with a focus on aviation, starting with drones.
As a result of our relationship, we want to develop unique air mobility solutions for our clients in Kenya and around the region,” Kilavuka said.
Conclusion
We at African IT News see this development as a laudable one. If one casts the current traffic chaos on the roads of Nairobi due to congestion and related problems, we believe it is high time something pragmatic is done about it, and that this deal of flying taxis in Nairobi, Kenya, which is envisaged to cut travel time to only six (6) minutes is in the right direction.