Today's Edition
Khaled Al Khawaldeh (Abu Dhabi)
Earlier this week, the Director General of Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Badr Al Olama told a crowd of eager philanthropists at the AVPN conference in Abu Dhabi of the emirate’s ambition to be the premier hub for global autonomous and high-tech transport.
In an impassioned fire-side chat, Al Olama spoke about the UAE’s willingness to take on technologies and innovations that were still unproven. He said this was part of the DNA of a country that was based on the pursuit of visionary dreams.
“Abu Dhabi will become the capital of smart and autonomous vehicles; you’re going to see air taxis autonomous buses and boats,” he declared to the crowd at the St.Regis in Saadiyat Island on Wednesday.
Only a day later, several kilometres down the highway at the world-famous Yas Marina Circuit, Al Olama, and several other representatives from ADIO, could be seen getting into the prototypes for the air taxis at the DRIFTx summit.
Held over two days, the exhibition brings together international thought-leadership from companies pioneering the latest innovations and applications in smart, autonomous, and sustainable urban mobility across land, air, and sea.
On the first day, demonstrations and prototypes of new age and autonomous vans, drones, and boats promising to revolutionise the transport system were surrounded by eager visitors, which had made their way to Yas for both pleasure and business. The biggest draw, however, were the impressive autonomous planes brought by Archer and Joby Aviation, two companies with deals with the Abu Dhabi government.
Despite the pomp and circumstance, it appeared that the two companies, along with their local government partners, were getting down to business – having serious conversations about when these autonomous flights would take to the air – and how they could become a mainstream form of transport.
“When we founded the company 15 years ago, we set out safety and noise as the two big topics of concern,” Joeben Bevirt, CEO and founder of Joby Aviation told the crowd on Thursday.
“In order to take off and land where people live, we needed to dramatically reduce the noise of these aircraft, something which we have done.”
Bevirt said that major steps were being made to make the flights a reality, including ensuring their safety standards were up to community expectations. He said that he expects access to short autonomous flights would become a major future drawcard for areas around the emirates.
“We know the value of real estate is driven by its transportation nodes, and we think this will be a sought-after node in the future,” he said.
The UAE’ s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) officially granted operational approval for the country’s first vertiport, which also debuted at the event on Thursday.
Nevertheless, some tough questions remain, particularly around the cost of the flights and whether they would be accepted by the general public. For the latter, the UAE Assistant Director General of Aviation Safety Affairs, Aqeel Ahmed Al Zarouni, was confident that people would embrace it with open arms.
“From a country perspective, we embrace innovation, from the leaders all the way to the citizens,” he said.
“In 2017 we did a proof of concept and found the overwhelming majority expressed interest. I think when autonomy is introduced, there should be a second gauge of public acceptance.”
