Saudi Arabia Tests Autonomous Air Taxi Service To Serve Hajj, Medical To Logistics Pilgrims

The launch of an autonomous air taxi in Saudi Arabia. (Source: SPA)

JAKARTA - Saudi Arabian Minister of Transport and Logistics Service Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser launched a pilot driverless air taxi on Wednesday.

"This is the world's first air taxi licensed by civil aviation authorities", according to a press release by the Transportation General Authority, citing the SPA June 12.

Furthermore, this air taxi service includes the transportation of pilgrims between holy places, facilitating emergency travel, transporting medical equipment, and providing logistics services for the transportation of goods.

Minister Al-Jasser said the inauguration of this air taxi was part of an effort to implement the latest future transportation technology, adopting an environmentally friendly innovative transportation model that uses artificial intelligence applications, as quoted by Arab News.

In line with the goals of the National Transportation and Logistics Strategy, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to modernize the transportation sector through the launch of air taxi technology, electric cars, and hydrogen trains.

Menteri Al-Jasser mengatakan, kementerian bekerja untuk meningkatkan mobilitas pendek dan mengembangkan undang-undang, hukum, dan sistem yang memungkinkan penggunaan teknologi modern.

The ministry is also trying to provide an experimental environment to facilitate the expansion of future transportation technology.

Meanwhile, Abdulaziz Al-Dualej, president of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GACA) who was present at the launch, said flying taxis were one of the most important initiatives of the state-of-the-art air mobility roadmap, which aims to reduce passenger travel time in dense areas, especially during emergencies, facilitate cargo and medical equipment transportation, as well as quickly complete surveillance and inspection tasks.

It is known that air taxis are one of 32 modern technologies implemented to serve pilgrims during this year's Hajj.