India shortlisted for Uber’s flying taxi service

Ride-hailing platform Uber has announced India as one of the five countries it has shortlisted for its first international ‘Uber Air City’ that will go up within the coming five years. After assessing countries across the world, Uber Elevate-its aerial taxi arm- decided on Japan, India, Australia, Brazil and France at the “Uber Elevate Asia Pacific Expo” in Tokyo.

Uber will select one of the cities from these shortlisted countries for its third launch city for flying taxis, after Dallas and Los Angeles in the USA. In the next five years, Uber customers in launch cities will be able to push a button and get a flight on demand.

“Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru are some of the most congested cities in the world, where travelling even a few kilometers can take over an hour. Uber Air offers tremendous potential to help create a transportation option that goes over congestion, instead of adding to it,” the company said in a statement.

Uber has assembled a network of partners that includes vehicle manufacturers, real estate developers and technology developers for this service. “The Uber Elevate team is now inviting conversations with stakeholders across major cities in these countries, and will announce the chosen Uber Air international city within the next six months,” said the company.

Uber Elevate has established a criteria framework to select the third city, set around three main principles: sizable market, local commitment and enabling conditions. Uber Elevate also announced plans to experiment with drone delivery for Uber Eats, and demonstrated how potential Uber Air routes in Asia Pacific cities could benefit local transportation systems as well.

Could flying taxis be the answer to India’s traffic congestion problems? And which Indian city most warrants flying taxis? Let us know in the comments section below.