City of Benidorm hosts air taxi flight demonstration in significant step for urban air mobility

On 27 March, the city of Benidorm (Spain) hosted a live air taxi demonstration as part of the U-ELCOME project, under SESAR Joint Undertaking.

Led by the Universitat Politècnica de València, the U-ELCOME project aims to improve how drones and other air traffic move through urban and city airspace, testing how drones can be safely used within busy city areas. The demonstration featured the EH216-S air taxi, which flew safely alongside 12 other drones engaged in various tasks including emergency response and surveillance. The air taxi hovered around 100 feet (30 metres) above the sea, with the entire operation carefully controlled using digital systems that form part of the EU’s U-space framework.

Benidorm is one of the first cities in Europe to test urban drone applications: with the U-ELCOME project acting as a pioneering platform for urban air mobility, their stakeholders are helping to build cleaner, more digital cities where air taxis and drones could soon be a normal part of everyday life.

Find out more here.