Autonomous, electric flying air taxis will soon be a thing in New Zealand, thanks to Kitty Hawk, the air taxi company started by Google’s co-founder and former CEO Larry Page, and the country’s premier airline, Air New Zealand.
The vertical take-off-and-landing passenger plane called Cora, which was first introduced to New Zealand earlier this year under the auspices of Kitty Hawk’s NZ-based Zephyr Airworks, was slated at the time to launch (in more ways than one) into NZ skies by 2021 as part of a partnership announced with the NZ government.
Cora is now one step closer to taking to the airways of New Zealand, with Zephyr Airworks entering into an agreement with the NZ airline that the air taxi company hopes will make Cora the first flying air taxis in the world.
Air New Zealand’s chief Christopher Luxon said in a statement that the agreement with Zephyr Airworks signals not only the airline’s commitment to embracing new technologies, but also to clean transport.
Read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle-dedicated site, The Driven…
You can also sign up to TheDriven’s regular, and free, newsletter here.
