Ride-hailing firm Grab has got us covered on the roads — now they want to take to the skies.
In an announcement today (18 February), Grab said it is teaming up with German company Volocopter to conduct a joint feasibility study exploring the prospect of urban air mobility in Southeast Asia.
The two firms have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to look into the most suitable cities and routes to deploy air taxis, evaluate the best use cases for air taxis, and explore the possibility of joint flight tests.
The findings will lay the groundwork for both companies to potentially launch air taxi services together in the future.
Volocopter is one of a few firms who have had their sights set on offering air taxi services in Singapore.
In October last year, they held the first test flight in Singapore over Marina Bay, with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).
The firm’s CEO, Florian Reuter, also said he anticipates that air taxi rides could become as affordable as hailing a car in “the next five to 10 years”.
Now, Reuter adds that their latest cooperation with Grab is “another important step towards the commercialisation of urban air mobility in one of the most traffic congested regions of the world”.
“Together, we will learn from unprecedented insights into the economic and societal opportunity of launching our services on the hottest routes in the South East Asian market,” he says.
For Grab, moving forward with this project could once again beef up the extensive services they have gathered on their regional ‘superapp’.
Says Head of Grab Ventures, Chris Yeo, “Grab has gathered traffic patterns and customer insights in the region that can help our teams come up with the most innovative mobility solutions to plug the gaps in the transport landscape.”
Featured Image Credit: Volocopter / Financial Times
