Uber Air, India became one of the five country for uber's air mobility concept

New Delhi India (Urban Transport News): On Thursday, Uber announced that India has been shortlisted as one of the five countries for its air mobility solution along with Japan, France, Australia, and Brazil. One of the city from this shortlist could not be the third location where Uber Air flights will take to the skies — Dallas and Los Angeles were the first two cities named. In 2016 Uber launched its Elevate programme. In last year the ride-sharing company announced it’s to launch flight demonstrations of UberAir in Dallas-Fort Worth/Frisco Texas and Los Angeles by 2020 even the commercially trips will be started by 2023.

On Thursday the Elevate Asia-Pacific summit in Tokyo, the ride-sharing company stated that it was looking beyond cars to solve the problem of congestion in the fast-growing urban areas across the world. The Uber is announcing a shortlist of five countries where UberAir can immediately transform transportation and take our technology to new heights. Uber Elevate has also designed and released the first example of future routes for Uber Air flights for Delhi, Tokyo, Mumbai, Seoul, Sydney, and Taipei. Uber suggests that just in Delhi NCR Uber Air will be able to save about two hours every day for commuters, Eric Allison, head of Aviation Programmes at Uber said.

The company was no longer about just cars but would be an urban mobility player in every sense of the term. “Uber is looking to the sky to unlock new opportunities for urban residents,” he said, calling it the boldest step to radically improve urban transportation, Nikhil Goel, Uber’s head of product for aviation, Uber Chief Operating Officer Barney Harford said He further said that the Uber is working with multiple partners to help with technology for developing aircraft and infrastructure for trips within a range of 15 and 100 km.

The main focus is for an entirely new type of aircraft that is electric, takes off and lands vertically and flies at speeds of up to 300 km per hour. These new aircraft will offer incredible speed and high reliability, Hardford said. These aircraft will maintain a cruising altitude of 1000-2000 feet and be able to do trips of up to 60 miles on a single charge. The price of these aerial trips will go below car ownership and will thus be a mass product in every way.

Mr. Hardford further stated that the Uber’s vision for the skies was not just limited to transporting people, but also things. Uber is actively testing small aerial vehicles for delivery of food and other products. Uber will be a one-stop-shop for moving people and things. As a spinoff, Uber Eats will take to air to increase the speed and reach of its food delivery business, to unlock the real potential of cities. “There is needed to look to the skies. Underlining how urban air travel changes rules of the game.” Ground networks are path based, but aerial is node-based. So adding a new node gives access to all the previous ones and these changes everything he explained, Allison said.