Coming soon to an airspace near you

AutoFlight is currently targeting commercial flights for 2025. Whether it can hit this ambitious target is the real “wait and see” bit, though. The JiangSu province demo is extremely promising, but there’s still a long way to go.

Henning points to three pillars which must be completed in order for this goal to be delivered. One is the technological issue of building a fully certified, completed Prosperity I. The second is the development of the necessary ground-based infrastructure. This is the equivalent of creating a robust network of charging ports for electric cars — but, in this case, being the construction of enough takeoff and landing ports to accommodate the proposed fleet.

The third is the legislation regarding traffic management. If all three pillars can be erected concurrently, then the future looks bright for Prosperity.

He noted that he expects Singapore to be an early adopter of the technology, while London in the UK will likely serve as a proof-of-concept for the rest of Europe.

AutoFlight is, as mentioned, far from the only company throwing its hat into the eVTOL ring. In fact, it’s a relative newcomer, but it’s got plenty going in its favor. For one thing, it’s evidently done enough to attract talent like Henning (“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, honestly.”), and it’s also got some impressive funding behind it, including a recent $100 million investment from next-generation mobility investor Team Global. If it can continue building on its innovative flight transition mode approach, it could have a bright future ahead of it.

The big winners in this next-gen travel field have yet to be revealed. However, AutoFlight is certainly doing a good job of creating a buzz. And based on the fact that it called its air taxi Prosperity, it clearly believes it’s onto a winner.

If you don’t want long gridlocked traffic commutes to return any time soon, it may just be a company worth rooting for.