Air taxis take to the sky in Audi's home town

Audi and partner Airbus have signed a letter of intent with the German government to allow tests with its air taxis in and around Audi's home town of Ingolstadt. The goal of the joint EU project is to be a model for air-taxi test operation in the Ingolstadt region.

"Flying taxis aren't a vision any longer, they can take us off into a new dimension of mobility," said German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer. "They're a huge opportunity for companies and young start-ups that already develop this technology very concretely and successfully."

Audi CEO Bram Schot said: "Vertical mobility saves time for customers and improves air quality."

Flying competition

Pop.Up Next, an electric and fully automatic two-seater flying taxi concept was unveiled at the Geneva auto show in March. It was developed by Audi, Airbus and Italdesign.

Daimler and Intel are backing another electric passenger drone, Volocopter. It has completed test flights and the company is hoping to offer commercial trips in the next three to five years.

Volvo's parent company Geely, meanwhile, controls Terrafugia, a US-based flying-car developer.

Image: Audi's Pop.Up Next (source: Audi)