UMILES Next’s air taxi prototype, equipped with TECNALIA’s FlyFree technology, successfully took to the skies in Toulouse as part of an initiative led by the TindAIR project, a series of very large-scale demonstrations on urban air mobility to validate the air traffic management within the U-space with unmanned aircraft. These successful tests in real conditions proved that this technology is ready to be integrated into an open flight environment.
The eVTOL Concept Integrity air taxi is an improved version of the prototype unveiled in 2019, updated with new systems. It is the first in Spain capable of travelling across cities autonomously, designed to carry one person and cover urban distances of up to 15 kilometres. This model is essential for UMILES Next to make these future flights a reality sooner.
UMILES Next’s air taxi takes to the sky for the first time in Europe’s urban airspace (U-space)
As part of TindAIR -Tactical Instrumental Deconfliction And In-flight Resolution- a project for very large-scale demonstrations on urban mobility, UMILES Next’s Concept Integrity air taxi, equipped with TECNALIA’s FlyFree technology, has completed successful test flights in Toulouse, taking off from the Onera Test Field.
This event represents a significant step towards the integration of this type of aircraft into the air space as part of the European TindAIR project, intended to validate the urban air traffic management system of the future with unmanned aircraft (U-space). In this demonstration, other UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) flew alongside the air taxi to show that this new traffic element can successfully coexist in urban areas in the near future.
At the event, UMILES Next was able to test automatic flight control and autonomous take-off and landing on its eVTOL aircraft (electric and vertical take-off and landing), making it possible to integrate the air taxi into the U-space.
The mobility of the future will be smarter and more sustainable. Alternative transportation options will be available in increasingly crowded cities thanks to new systems and developments. UMILES Next and TECNALIA are already very focused on that future, developing air and ground mobility solutions which are expected to become a viable option by 2028.
UMILES Next First outdoor demo flight (TindAir project)
The Concept Integrity air taxi is an improved evolution of the first prototype unveiled in 2019. It is capable of travelling across cities autonomously, designed to carry one person and cover urban distances of up to 15 kilometres in 15 minutes.
Such autonomous aircraft must currently be piloted in order to receive the certificates required for operation. This has prompted UMILES Next to begin work on the design of its piloted aircraft, Integrity3, based on the patented FlyFree technology, which it hopes will be in flight within the next few years.
UMILES Group CEO Carlos Poveda said: “Our goal is to go to market fast and to do that, we need to work with all air mobility sector players to outline rules, standards and requirements that we all have to meet. These types of initiatives allow us to fully engage with all the possible safety considerations, among other factors. This is a major step forward for UMILES Next that will bring us ever closer to the mobility of the future.”
