Kenya Airways Set To Start Operating Flying Taxis

Jane Muia,

Kenya Airways has disclosed that flying taxis will start operating in the country from 2025 as part of the airline’s diversification strategy under the Fahari Aviation program.

According to the airline chief Executive officer Allan Kilavuka, the flying taxis will employ the use of vertical take-off and landing, which is the new technology that uses electric energy to hover. He added that testing will start in 2025 as part of the strategy to adopt new technologies as a growth plan. The car’s capability to take off like aircraft is ideal in beating heavy traffic jams usually experienced in the city.

The national carrier launched its subsidiary -Fahari Aviation in its attempt to generate revenue through a training course in operating drones for surveillance and agricultural support.

“We are working on a future, 2025 onwards to see how we can support urban mobility,’’ Kilavuka said

The concept of flying taxis has been mobilized in many cities for various activities, especially in parcels delivery, urban taxi services, medical assistance, and recreational purposes.

The electric aircraft is emerging as the traffic solution which has been the major problem in the city that has led to the loss of billions of shillings in revenue.

The introduction of the flying taxis follows a deal that was laid down between Kenya Airways and Brazilian planemaker, Embraer SA whose aim was to introduce zero Electric Vertical Aircraft (EVA) into the transport sector.

“The creation of disruptive and accessible solutions in urban air mobility will help democratize movement,’’ Andre Stein, CEO of Embraer’s unit Urban Air Mobility Solutions said.

This move will make Kenya the third country in Africa to have a legal framework in place for the remotely controlled aircraft after Rwanda and South Africa.

Kenya Airways has partnered with Urban Air mobility firm, Eve to develop operations in Kenya through Fahari aviation. Eve has also signed contracts with 17 companies for 1,735 orders of its aircraft, valued at $ 5 billion (Ksh 568 billion) as of January 2022.