While Aleksandar Vučić announces the flying taxi in Belgrade, Paris Commissioner for Environmental Affairs Dan Lert announced that the city's leadership will prevent the testing of flying cars in the French capital because "flying taxis are an ecological absurdity aimed at the ultra-rich".
The city of Paris will issue a resolution against testing flying taxis during Olympic Games which begin in August in the capital of France, writes Deutsche Welle (DW).
Previously, the national government gave permission to the German company Volokopter (volocopter) is testing his flying vehicle using a floating take-off and landing platform on the River Seine.
Now the city's environmental affairs commissioner, Dan Lert, has announced that the city's leadership has accepted a request by local Communists to prevent flying car testing.
"Flying taxis are an environmental absurdity aimed at the ultra-rich," said Lert of the Green Party.
He called it a "democratic scandal" that the central authorities "forcefully" impose such projects.
Lert stated that one flight in such a taxi - which functions like a large battery-powered drone - consumes thirty times more energy than a subway ride and emits 45 times more harmful gases.
No one from the German Volokopter has yet commented on the city's decision, AFP reports.
On Tuesday, the French government gave the green light for a "taxidrome" near the Paris Osterlitz train station in the city center, within easy reach of the Botanical Gardens and Notre Dame Cathedral.
Outside the city center, there are already several such take-off and landing areas.
Race for the first commercial flight
According to the permit issued by the government, only free flights are allowed as a demonstration of what the aircraft can do. Commercial flights are not yet allowed.
But Paris would undoubtedly be a great advertisement for Volocopter in the flying taxi market where numerous German, Chinese and American companies are trying to break through with their aircraft. About 150 companies around the world are working on it.
The flying taxi that is supposed to be displayed during the Games has room for two passengers. It looks like a helicopter with 18 small propellers arranged around its roof.
It still has a pilot – but the idea is to one day be licensed to fly autonomously.
This February, the Volokopter has already received permission from the German Federal Aviation Administration to start serial production of the aircraft.
However, Volokopter barely escaped bankruptcy this June as it secured fresh money to start mass production. They hope to make the first commercial flights this year - apart from Paris, Rome is also mentioned.
The great dilemma of the future
The urban transport of the future is being actively discussed around the world. One of the questions is whether we should fly more?
Apart from the possibility of delivering goods with drones, there is more and more talk about flying taxis. Would the sky be crowded like in the movie "The Fifth Element"? How would aircraft communicate with each other to avoid accidents?
How practical is transportation if you have to go to a special "taxidrome" that may be on top of some solitaire? And in the end, where is the logic for transportation - instead of being mass and rail-based - to be even more personalized and consume even more energy, while also being more expensive?
Despite the dilemmas, more and more cities around the world are announcing tests and test flights. It seems that it has progressed the farthest in China, where the company Ehang started selling its passenger drones in April.
They cost 300.000 euros each, although they still have modest performance - they can develop a speed of up to 130 kilometers per hour and fly for only 25 minutes with one battery charge.
These days, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić also reiterated that Belgrade will have flying taxis during the Expo 2027 exhibition and recalled that people laughed at him when he first mentioned them. "If I said there would be a flying taxi, there would be."
According to him, negotiations are underway with six companies and there is great interest.
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