As part of TindAir (Tactical Instrumental Deconfliction And In-flight Resolution), a project for very large scale demonstrations on urban mobility, UMILES Next's Concept Integrity air taxi, equipped with Tecnalia's FlyFree technology, has completed successful test flights in Toulouse, France, taking off from the Onera Test Field. This event represents a significant step towards the integration of this type of aircraft into the airspace as part of the European TindAir project, which is intended to validate the urban air traffic management system of the future with unmanned aircraft (U-space). In this demonstration, other UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) flew alongside the air taxi to show that this new traffic element can successfully coexist in urban areas in the near future.

At the event, Spain-based eVTOL developer UMILES Next was able to test automatic flight control and autonomous take off and landing on its eVTOL aircraft, making it possible to integrate the air taxi into the U-space.

The mobility of the future will be smarter and more sustainable. Alternative transportation options will be available in increasingly crowded cities, thanks to new systems and developments. UMILES Next and Tecnalia, a leading Spanish applied research and technological development centre, are already very focused on that future, developing air and ground mobility solutions which are expected to become a viable option by 2028.

The Concept Integrity air taxi is an improved evolution of the first prototype unveiled in 2019. It is capable of travelling across cities autonomously, designed to carry one person and cover urban distances of up to 15 kilometres in 15 minutes.

Such autonomous aircraft must currently be piloted in order to receive the certificates required for operation. This has prompted UMILES Next to begin work on the design of its three seater piloted aircraft, Integrity3, based on the patented FlyFree technology, which it hopes will be in flight within the next few years.

UMILES Group CEO Carlos Poveda says: “Our goal is to go to market fast, and to do that we need to work with all air mobility sector players to outline rules, standards and requirements that we all have to meet. These types of initiatives allow us to fully engage with all the possible safety considerations, among other factors. This is a major step forward for UMILES Next that will bring us ever closer to the mobility of the future.”