With the potential to venture into local transport, airlines are placing advance orders for flying taxis with startups in the US, the UK and Brazil, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The big picture: American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic invested $4 billion in Vertical Aerospace, a UK-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) startup that won conditional orders for 1,000 electric aircraft, as per Yahoo News.

  • Brazil’s Embraer SA is set to merge its unit developing eVTOLs into a public company, valued at $2 billion. 
  • Vertical Aerospace and two other eVTOL companies, Joby Aviation and Lilium GmbH, have also agreed to go public through SPAC mergers.
  • California's Archer Aviation raised $20 million from United Airlines Holdings, with plans to buy 200 eVTOLs. Archer plans an SPAC merger next year that would value the combined company at $3.8 billion.
  • None of these are certified for commercial use yet. However, Europe's aviation regulator had said that commercial use of air taxis could start by 2024 or 2025, reports NDTV

What they are: Flying taxis are designed for short trips, within a range of 100 miles (160 kilometers). They are quieter than usual aircraft, more agile, emission-free, and use multiple small electric rotors.

  • Although they can accommodate a small number of passengers, commercial use of eVTOLs is expected to begin with carrying packages.
  • Many eVTOL makers plan to start automated flights, but these could take up to five years as global regulators sort out safety concerns.