Binh Dinh proposes piloting flying taxis, what kind of aircraft?

The People's Committee of Binh Dinh province has just sent a document to the Ministry of Transport asking for approval to build a pilot project for flying taxis operating in the province.

Flying taxis expected to be put into use at the 2024 Paris Olympics - Photo: Volocopter

On the morning of October 30, Mr. Nguyen Tu Cong Hoang - Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee - confirmed that the province has just proposed the Ministry of Transport to review the report and recommend the Prime Minister to approve the policy for the Provincial People's Committee to develop a pilot project. flying taxi operating in the province. Flying taxi is a type of transportation service that is not currently available in Vietnam.

According to the above document of the People's Committee of Binh Dinh province, the proposal to build a pilot project for flying taxis aims to exploit the advantages and potentials of the locality, creating opportunities to attract investors to develop flying taxi transport. tourism development, serving the socio -economic development of Binh Dinh.

Binh Dinh province has resources Sea and island tourism, rich and unique human tourism resources with 134km of coastline, is not only oriented to develop as a regional tourism center, but also one of the important sea tourism centers of the whole country in the Master Plan for Vietnam tourism development to 2020, vision to 2030.

A corner of Quy Nhon City (Binh Dinh) seen from a flycam. Photo: DUNG NHAN

The province has many famous beautiful beaches such as Quy Nhon, Hai Giang, Trung Luong, Cat Hai... The province also has many islands near the shore: Nhon Chau, Hon Kho, Yen Island... and has beautiful landscapes with favorable conditions to exploit for sea tourism activities.

In addition, Binh Dinh also has coastal bays and lagoons such as Quy Nhon Bay, Thi Nai Lagoon, Tra O Lagoon... and more than 30 large and small islands, which are valuable for tourism exploitation.

However, at present there is no suitable means of transport to be able to explore all of them. natural beauty of Binh Dinh province, as well as helping to move between tourist destinations conveniently and quickly.

Flying taxi is an electric aircraft, carrying up to 5 people.

Ehang's EH216-S model at the exhibition in Macao - Photo: TAKASHI KAWAKAMI

According to the People's Committee of Binh Dinh province, flying taxi is a type of transportation using small electric aircraft, taking off and landing vertically, transporting about 4-5 people, considered an ideal means of transportation for visitors and tourists to observe and admire the beauty of nature from above.

"This is a green, novel, unique, modern, and innovative mode of transportation that makes travel easy, saves time, serves visitors and tourists well, has competitive prices, and does not emit harmful substances compared to conventional road and rail vehicles," the document stated.

The People's Committee of Binh Dinh province assesses that flying taxi is a form of transport with a lot of potential, suitable for the province's tourism development needs, contributing to building Binh Dinh into a leading attractive destination in the region. At the same time, to realize the goal of comprehensive, fast and sustainable tourism development in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister in Directive No. 08/CT TTg dated February 23, 2024 and the orientation of Binh Dinh Province Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050.

Up to now, flying taxi is a completely new form of transport. In the world, there are some countries that have researched and tested this type of transport. passenger transport by flying taxi like China, USA, Germany, UK, Singapore, Korea...

In Vietnam, this type of transport does not exist yet. However, with the expected benefits from the operation of flying taxi transport being very large as analyzed above, it is necessary to have a testing plan, a roadmap for pilot implementation, and build a solid legal corridor before officially putting this type of transport into operation.

Mr. Tran Van Thanh, Director of the Department of Tourism of Binh Dinh province, said that if flying taxis can be deployed, Binh Dinh tourism will develop rapidly.

He said that in working sessions with the province, foreign partners proposed that flying taxis only fly at an altitude of 30m and mainly fly short routes. As for the management and operation of this type of vehicle to ensure security, safety, and compliance with Vietnam's traffic laws, it will be specifically mentioned when developing the project, because currently it is only at the proposal stage.

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