The skies over Latin America's largest city are set to witness a futuristic aerospace revolution after the Brazilian airline Gol reached an agreement that could see it transport regular passengers around Sao Paulo in hundreds of low-cost zero-emission electric air taxis.
Domhnal Slattery, chief executive of the Dublin-based firm Avolon, which will provide the aircraft to Gol and recently placed an order for 500 of the aircraft from their British manufacturer, admitted helicopters were the "kingdom of the wealthiest".
But the Avolon boss claimed the introduction of VA-X4 eVTOLs(垂直的) electric vertical takeoff and landing)aircraft to Sao Paulo would be a gamechanger for regular passengers once the taxis, which look like a futuristic cross between a helicopter and a glider, were delivered in late 2024 or 2025.
"Our basic estimate(估计) at the moment is that the operating cost here for this aircraft will be equal to $I per passenger over a 25-mile trip, "Slattery told the Financial Times. "Which is almost equal to an Uber ride. "
Few cities are crying out for such a revolution more than Sao Paulo, a sprawling metropolis with more than 12 million citizens and choked by a fleet of 8. 6m vehicles.
In the late 1990s, the congestion(拥塞) became so bad in what is now the world's fifth biggest city after Tokyo, Delhi, Seoul and Shanghai that authorities were forced to introduce a number plate rotation(循环) system for vehicles.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, the head of the British aerospace manufacturer that produces the aircraft, Vertical Aerospace, said the flying taxis would be ideal for Brazil's biggest city and will "transform how we travel around high population density cities that are crowded with traffic".
The Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace was founded in 2016 and promises to pioneer "a new era in vertical transport".
"We'll be looking to Asia after Sao Paulo," Avolon's chief commercial officer, Paul Geaney, told Reuters.
