New video shows Airbus' Vahana flying taxi take to the sky

Airbus has shared new footage of its autonomous robot taxi taking to the skies for the first time. The flying taxi, dubbed Alpha One, is part of Project Vahana, the aerospace giant's advanced projects division. The video shows the self-flying drone hovering above the ground for about a minute or so, before smoothly lowering itself back to the ground. Airbus posted the video on Thursday, a month after the test flight took place at the Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Systems Range in Oregon, close to a nearby airport where the craft has been stored since November 2017. Airbus' plans to create a fleet of self-flying taxis have moved a step closer to becoming reality, thanks to the first successful test flight of a full-scale prototype. Project Vahana's aircraft, dubbed Alpha One, took to the skies for the first time, flying for a total of 53 seconds AlphaOne is a full-scale aircraft that's all-electric and self-piloted.