SYDNEY : Paramedics with jetpacks, border police in flying cars and city workers commuting by drone all sound like science fiction - but the concepts are part of a advanced air mobility market that is expected to be worth as much as US$17 billion by 2025.
Wisk, a unit of Boeing Co., has been testing Cora, an autonomous electric aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, at its base in Tekapo, New Zealand, for four years. Netherlands-based PAL-V is keeping one foot on the ground while taking to the air. Its two-seat gyroplane road vehicle Liberty, which has a maximum speed of 180 km/h and a flying range of 400 km, received approval for use on European roads this year.
The same report suggests the piloted segment will hold more than three-quarters of the market share in 2025, but the autonomous segment will grow fastest between 2025 and 2035. With 317 pounds of thrust, the jetsuit can carry a person for about four minutes. The company is working on updates to extend flying time, and Browning has built up a dataset of the jetpack's use across 35 countries.
California-based Wisk selected New Zealand because it was unique globally in allowing"beyond line of sight" trials of autonomous aircraft.Sales of the PAL-V slowed as in-person test drives became restricted, Dingemanse said, but the crisis has provided a boost to the private jet industry and reinforced the human need to meet face-to-face.