South Korea's Hyundai company will carry out their trial or POC for the sky taxi.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Nusantara Capital Authority (OIKN) is targeting to hold a trial or proof-of-concept (POC) for the operation of sky taxis in Nusantara city in July.

"South Korea's Hyundai company will carry out their trial or POC for the sky taxi," OIKN's deputy for green and digital transformation, Mohammed Ali Berawi, informed here on Monday.

Berawi said that the company will conduct the trial at Pangeran Tumenggung Pranoto Airport in Samarinda city, north of the new capital, in collaboration with the municipal authority.

Besides Hyundai, Boeing subsidiary Wisk has also expressed interest in testing their sky taxi in the form of a passenger drone in Nusantara city, the deputy added.

Last year, the new capital authority carried out a trial for two-seat sky taxis operated by Chinese company EHang at Budiarto Airfield, Tangerang, Banten.

"The one tested in Samarinda can seat five persons, which means it has a larger capacity," he added.

The sky taxi that was tested earlier is powered by batteries and can fly up to 100 kilometers, he informed, adding that he expects flying taxis to be the new capital's mode of transportation, connecting it with several major cities.

"Hence, anyone who wants to fly to Balikpapan in East Kalimantan or Palu in Central Sulawesi need not transit in Makassar or Jakarta on a regular flight; they can instead fly to their destination with the sky taxi," the OIKN deputy said.

Berawi informed that OIKN is also carrying out evaluations and economic calculations to ensure that sky taxis are accessible to residents in the new capital.

However, he said, sky taxis are still under development, and their commercialization has not kicked off since further technological development and regulatory changes are required.

"Nonetheless, a technical team between Hyundai and state company Indonesia Aerospace (IAe) has been established to develop flying taxis in the future," he added.

Berawi said that a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies is expected to allow the transfer of technology on sky taxi development from South Korea to Indonesia.

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Translator: Aji Cakti, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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