In Guangzhou earlier this month 40 people, including the deputy mayor of the southern Chinese province, lined up for a taste of the future of transport – an autonomous flying taxi. The Ehang 184 drone flew the passengers on round trips of up to 15 kilometres, with some reaching the top speed of 130km per hour. The successful passenger flights by the Guangzhou-based company come as tech firms around the world race to launch new methods of mobility and carve out a slice of the fast-growing market. "This makes you feel like you have travelled into the future, like you're in a sci-fi movie. But this is real," Ehang's founder and chief executive Hu Huazhi said in a company video that showed footage of the flight tests.

Chinese company Ehang offered a glimpse this week of what could lie ahead, releasing its first video of passengers climbing aboard its autonomous drones and taking off with the push of a button. It's one of a bunch of companies racing to bring their different versions of computer-controlled airborne taxis to market. The contenders include big plane makers like Boeing (BA) and lesser-known startups. Ehang says it first managed to carry passengers in its drones back in 2015 and has since racked up at least 40 successful journeys. It hadn't shared footage of the flights publicly until this week.

EHang has been talking about its 184 passenger drone for ages, but there's been a curious absence of footage showing manned flights. Thankfully, it's rectifying that situation: the company has posted a video showing the EHang 184 in action through a series of manned tests. The clip shows both single- and double-seat models going through the paces, including extreme conditions such as typhoon-level winds, intense maneuvers and high-altitude climbs. The vehicle does have controls (which are supposed to be simple), but the allure is that you can simply pick a flight path and have the drone do the heavy lifting. This is a heavily edited clip, of course, so it's only going to portray the EHang 184 in the best possible light.

Made by the dronemaker Beijing Yi-Hang Creation Science and Technology Corporation, the Ehang 184 is a "passenger drone" that can carry a single person (and luggage) of up to 220 pounds. With a four-rotor layout in the form of a giant quadcopter, it has enough battery power to fly a range of just over 30 miles, at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. The Ehang 184 is also highly autonomous; while its flight computer is linked to a command center (with some human oversight), the flight computer is capable of making emergency landings, self diagnosing issues, and avoiding obstacles.

A model of EHang 184 and the next generation of Dubai Drone Taxi is seen during the second day of the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. When the ruling family decrees that a quarter of all journeys in a city state will be autonomous by 2030, someone somewhere is obliged to make that start happening as soon as possible. In Dubai, that person is Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the city's Road and Transport Authority. He said Monday that he hopes Dubai will have autonomous taxi drones zipping around its skyline this summer. Actual drones that people can sit inside without fearing for their lives.

The single-rider, human-sized quadcopter that whipped CES 2016 into a frenzy could be carrying passengers as early as this summer. As the head of Dubai's Roads and Transportation Agency announced at the World Government summit today, the Chinese EHang 184 passenger drone will begin "regular operations" around the futuristic city in July of 2017. In fact, as the Associated Press reports, the EHang 184 has already been zipping around Dubai's Burj Al-Arab skyscraper, which happens to have a helipad floating a dizzying 689 feet off the ground. "This is not only a model," Roads and Transportation chief Mattar al-Tayer said. "We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai's skies."

A Chinese drone maker has revealed a giant quadcopter big enough to fit a passenger will be buzzing through the Dubai skyline in July. Dubbed EHang 184, the drone is described as the world's first'Autonomous Aerial Vehicle' for transporting people. The rider punches in a destination on a touch screen in front of the passenger seat, then the drone would fly there automatically. EHang is building the world's first'Autonomous Aerial Vehicle' for transporting people. The head of Dubai's Roads & Transportation Agency announced at the World Government Summit on Monday that the drone would be flying by July Mattar al-Tayer, the head of Dubai's Roads & Transportation Agency, made the announcement about it flight in Dubai today at the World Government Summit.

EHang 184, the world's first passenger drone, capable of autonomously carrying a person in the air for 23 minutes, has been cleared for testing. The approval was given out by the Nevada governor's office to develop and test the vehicle at the state's Federal Aviation Administration-approved drone test site. The electric EHang 184 passenger drone by Chinese firm EHang was unveiled at CES in Las Vegas in January. The Chinese company said that the EHang 184 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) is a 142-horsepower "personal flying vehicle" that can transport a single person at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet, China's People's Daily Online reported. According to BBC, Macquarie consultancy senior analyst Douglas McNeill gave his opinion of the flying drone concept.

The EHang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle is unveiled at the EHang booth at CES International in January in Las Vegas. The drone is large enough to fit a human passenger. The EHang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle is unveiled at the EHang booth at CES International in January in Las Vegas. The drone is large enough to fit a human passenger. The idea: a drone taxi that can transport a single passenger for up to 23 minutes.

It took the technology world by storm when it was announced at CES in Las Vegas. Now a Chinese firm that has build a self flying'passenger drone' says it could soon begin testing in Nevada. The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems, a state nonprofit group sponsored by the Governor's Office of Economic Development, will work to help EHang test and develop its system, officials said Monday. EHang and Lung Biotechnology hope to use 1,000 drones to deliver artificial human organs to hospitals around the US. The all-electric vehicle has four arms with a total of eight propellers at the end.