Watch: First passenger drone takes maiden flight

Watch: First passenger drone takes maiden flight

Ever get sick of flying in a safe, large and incredibly well-tested plane?

Neither do we.

But hey, clearly some people are a little tired of comfortable travel, as the world’s first passenger drone has taken its maiden flight in China.

The Ehang 184 can carry one passenger weighing up to 100kgs and is powered entirely by electricity.

According to ABC News, Ehang – the company behind the drone – tested the drone more than 1,000 times before inviting the public to take a ride.

EHang chief executive officer Hu Huazhi said: “None of the traditional flying vehicles can achieve the goal of fully autonomous flying, so they are still far away from common people.

“But our successful flight today means the scenes that we used to only see in sci-fi movies are now very close to common people.”

The Ehang can fly for 23-minutes at sea level at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour.

As per the ABC, the drones cost roughly $US200,000 ($253,000)to $300,000 ($380,000).

EHang co-founder Derrick Xiong said: “[The drone can] help people to avoid the traffic on the ground, but also in other applications, we can always think about emergency rescue, or we can transport patients to the hospital, or we can do a tourism, you know, fly from one island to the other.”

The Ehang 184 may be on sale in the commercial market within the year.

Check out footage of the flight here:

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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