When Dorothee Bär (CSU), Minister of State for Digitization, mentioned flying taxis in a ZDF interview in March 2018, she was met with ridicule on all sides. Other challenges, such as the development of the digital infrastructure in German, seemed far more urgent to her critics. But her idea was evidently not that far from reality. Her home state has now agreed the “Bavarian Air Mobility Strategy” . Its aims include making Bavaria a leading location for the manufacture and use of flying taxis and establishing environmentally compatible, safe and passenger-friendly air transport.

Measures that the Bavarian State Government wants to support specifically include the establishment of a test site and the development and, from 2020, testing of two drive concepts. A Dornier Do 228 is to be purchased for this purpose. A cross-sector consortium of industry and research has already been created throughout Bavaria. The Münchener Abendzeitung quotes Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) as saying that the whole thing is “not an illusion” and “has nothing ridiculous about it”.

Rolls-Royce is also working in this area, reports heise.de . The British engine manufacturer is working on a hybrid flying taxi for up to five passengers . According to the draft paper, it is to be equipped with six propellers and will take off vertically. Its range will be 800 km. Rolls-Royce says that the model could be available as of the early to mid 2020s, provided that a sustainable business model can be created.