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Air taxi startup Wisk: Boeing bets on the future
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MIKE BLAKE / Reuters
The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing is betting on the future market for small air taxis and is investing 450 million dollars (398 million euros) in the developer company Wisk Aero.
Among other things, the money is to be used to prepare for production, as the companies announced on Monday.
According to the current status, the small aircraft from Wisk should be able to transport two people, with a range of around 40 kilometers and a speed of up to 160 kilometers per hour.
It flies electrically powered and autonomously without a pilot on board.
For safety, the machines should also be able to be remotely controlled from the ground and will have a landing parachute installed.
Wisk said it expects nearly 14 million annual flights carrying more than 40 million passengers in 20 US cities in the first five years after certification.
When exactly this should be, the company left open.
Wisk is a 2019 joint venture between Boeing and aircraft developer Kitty Hawk, funded by Google co-founder Larry Page.
Over the past few years, Page has built up several companies that develop small aircraft.
Air taxis are developed by several companies, including Volocopter and Lilium from Germany.
Boeing's big rival Airbus is also working on a model.
It is still unclear how quickly air taxis will be approved by the authorities and how viable the business model for operating them will be.
sol/dpa