Dubai's world-first self-flying taxis: New images take look inside automated aircraft

Dubai's automated aerial taxis (AAT) are set to take off in the ambitious city very soon, so to whet the appetite before the self-flying vehicles arrive new teaser images have been released.

Trial runs of the world's first flying taxis are said to begin at the end of 2017 with German company Volocopter developing the battery-powered pilotless craft that will be able to carry two passengers on journeys up to 30 minutes.

The Dubai Media Office ramped up the excitement by tweeting out a series of images that have been artistically rendered to show what the drone-like aircraft will look like, along with its interior and how they'll fit around the lives of the city's inhabitants.

Pictures of the 18-rotor flying taxis are seen sitting on charging perches fitted to the side of skyscrapers, alongside residents in high-rise apartments looking out on the AATs while they sip tea, as well as a passenger point-of-view perspective during a flight over the city and the luxurious leather and suede interiors.

Measuring about 2m in height and with rotors spanning around 7m, the taxis will be able to hit a maximum speed of 100kmh and also included a built-in parachute should anything go wrong.

To ensure things don't go wrong, Dubai's Road and Transport Authority (RTA) and Civil Aviation Authority will be conducting test flights and safety checks over the next five years, meaning the public has a while to wait until they can summon their own flying taxi.

Volocopter recently announced that is has generated €25m in funding from the likes of car manufacturer Daimler and other parties in the effort to expand its technology and potentially offer a five-seater version of its flying taxi. The company claimed that by 2030 25% of Dubai's public transportation will be autonomous so the ground-breaking test flight come the end of the year will be a major step towards achieving that goal.