Benidorm, European pioneer in air taxi test flights
26 March, 2025Benidorm has hosted the first simultaneous flight in Europe of an air taxi and drones in a real urban environment. The demonstration, which took place on the Poniente and Levante beaches, represents a milestone in the development of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and opens the door to a future where air taxis are part of the everyday landscape of tourist cities.
The demonstration, coordinated by the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), included EHang’s EH216-S air taxi, an unmanned aircraft with a capacity for two passengers, together with 12 drones that simulated transport, surveillance and rescue tasks. All this under the supervision of the European unmanned airspace management system (U-Space).
This demonstration is part of the European U-ELCOME project, coordinated by Eurocontrol involving 51 partners from Spain, France and Italy. It aims to validate the first drone air traffic management services in Europe.