The Costa del Sol is consistently aiming for improvement and advancement in different areas. This time, the focus is on working towards big air mobility advancement. Costa del Sol regions is going to introduce manned air taxi drones by 2026 with test flights starting next year. This makes Malaga among the very first European cities to provide commercial air taxi services. Pioneering Air Mobility in Malaga, The Spanish state body responsible for airspace management Enaire, has selected Malaga airport as a pioneering hub for this project. Along with the control tower professionals, they plan on using Malaga airports for the vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Following the european regulations of air taxi
The aircraft will be made according to European regulations but with a chance of implementing drones in the future. Either October or November this year, the validation test flights for air taxis will happen if all goes to plan. These tests will start with the use of conventional helicopters going through the Malaga-Granada route due to this route having less air traffic. Specially during the months of october and november, this route is the best option in Spain for this initiative. If the procedure phase of connecting Malaga and Granada airports becomes successful, testing of Lilium’s drone aircraft will begin.
It is true that EASA does not yet permit unmanned passenger aircraft, but with the evolution and development of technology, this is expected to change pretty soon. Malaga is the lead of this project due to the city’s control tower professionals’s expertise. Test sites in Jaen and Cordoba will play a significant role in the testing processes. Spain is looking forward to this future advancement in one of it most renowned provinces in the South, Malaga. If everything goes well, you will be able to witness the launch of the first air taxis in Malaga.