It was first rumored that various companies would soon be introducing flying cars however, no news was heard regarding these cars after that. Now, it is official that the flying cars would be operating from next year.

European aviation giant Airbus announced that its four-person flying taxi ‘CityAirbus’ will make its initial flight by the end of year 2018. The announcement was done after a successful test of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) of the electric-powered aircraft.

Though the first tests will be unmanned, the firm aims to have humans pilot the taxi when it is expected to fly in cities by 2023 and later shift it to completely being autonomous. Airbus says that the reason they would be starting off with human pilots at first is “to ease certification and public acceptance”, as per Futurism.

Future is now with freshly tested flying Cars

After being commercially available, the craft will navigate through predetermined routes at a maximum speed of 120 km/h (74.5 mph). The craft is completely battery-powered with 100KW Siemens electric motors. It can accommodate four people comfortably “in a fast, affordable, and environmentally friendly way”.

The aircraft will have a four-fan design with small craft’s size, which will help reduce noise and make it able to move around crowded cities and dense environments. Also, by splitting a ride between groups of four people, the ride would be made as cheap as a normal taxi ride, reported Engadget.

Moreover, Airbus is not the first one to make cars fly. Uber had a three-day summit for its flying taxi plans and aims to test it by 2020, whereas, German company Volocopter too made its initial test flight in Dubai.